Public Power Corp posts 2021 loss on higher gas, CO2 purchases

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece’s biggest power utility Public Power Corp. (PPC) posted a full-year loss on Tuesday on the back of higher spending for gas purchases and carbon emissions and hefty discounts offered to customers suffering from soaring energy costs.

PPC said net loss came in at 18.4 million euros ($20.1 million) for 2021 compared with a net profit of 19.5 million euros the previous year.

The group, which is 34% owned by the state, has offered discounts worth 800 million euros to households and businesses to help them deal with soaring power bills in the second half of 2021, it said.

Despite volatile commodity markets last year, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose by an annual 0.8% to 871.7 million euros, due to hedging and a more profitable generation business, PPC said.

It expects EBITDA to remain stable this year, although increased energy costs and higher inflation in the wake of the war in Ukraine may affect households' disposable income and their ability to pay their power bills.

($1 = 0.9153 euros)

(Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Mike Harrison)