April 23 (SeeNews) - Romanian state-controlled energy holding company Complexul Energetic Oltenia (CE Oltenia) expects a slim gross profit of 1 million lei ($236,373/210,154 euro) this year and plans to lay off 200 employees, the energy ministry said.
Revenues are expected to come in at 3.9 billion lei, while expenses are forecast to reach 3.912 billion lei, according to the 2019 draft budget of the company published by the energy ministry late on Monday.
At the same time, in order to cut personnel costs, CE Oltenia plans to lay off 200 employees this year.
The energy complex also expects 349,000 lei in revenues from European funds, overdue payments of 2.86 billion lei and receivables of 724.4 million lei.
The company plans to end 2019 with 12,881 employees and an average monthly wage per employee of 6,221 lei.
The 2019 budget proposal is based on planned gross production of 14.95 TWh of electricity, net electricity output of 12.7 TWh and production of 22 million tons of coal.
The draft budget is pending approval from the government.
CE Oltenia closed last year with a loss of 1 billion lei, though it had hoped for a 70 million lei profit, according to local media reports.
Set up in 2012, CE Oltenia produces electricity and heat mainly for the southern city of Craiova, in southern Romania, and sells coal to third parties, mainly to electricity producers.
Romania's economy ministry holds a 77.17% stake in CE Oltenia, blue-chip investment fund Fondul Proprietatea [BSE:FP] owns 21.54% and Electrocentrale Grup holds the remainder.
In February, the energy ministry said it plans to invest 180 million euro ($204 million) to convert to natural gas a 200 MW plant coal-fired power plant in Craiova.
As much as 70% of the project costs will be financed by European funds, while CE Oltenia will cover 30%.
(1 euro = 4.7584 lei)
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