Aktor losses raise concerns but management sees improvement by end year

The continued losses reported by Ellaktor’s construction arm, Aktor, were the focus of analysts during a teleconference held to present the company’s first half earnings.

The first half drop in revenues in its construction sector by 26% and the increase of losses to 27.9 million euros (from 17.3 million), even without the forecast of 26.1 million euros after the court decision on the Doha metro, concern market participants.

The management replied by saying that AKTOR signed in the first half of the year contracts worth 197 million euros and since then won the bids on additional projects of 98 million euros, not including the big contract of 320 million euros for Psytallia, where a final decision on whether it will go to the Aktor-Avax consortium is still outsanding.

CEO Efthymios Bouloutas noted that by the end of the year the situation with Aktor will have normalized, which had been significantly aggravated due to liquidity problems and the "sins" of the past. Bouloutas said that at the beginning of August the share capital increase of Aktor was completed while its restructuring program continues.

The company currently has outstanding contracts reaching 1.7 billion euros.

For the RES (Renewable Energy Sources) sector, management said the group obtained producer licenses from the Energy Regulatory Authority (RAE) for projects with a total capacity of 140 MW in Northern Greece. In addition, it has submitted applications for 97 MW wind farms, and storage projects with a total capacity of 417 MW.

According to Bouloutas, the cooperation with Portugal’s EDPR for the development of wind farms in Evia is proceeding normally. The group’s installed capacity amounted to 493 MW at the end of the semester while another 88 MW of wind power is expected to be delivered after 2023.

Bouloutas was asked about the planned tender for the new concession contract of Attiki Odos, after the offer of GEK TERNA - Egis Project (amounting to 1.5 billion euros) for Egnatia Odos. He replied that the current contract will be completed at the end of 2024 and that there is no specific information on how the tender will evolve.

For the Cambas Project at the old Kampa winery, the management said that announcements are expected at the end of the year. Bouloutas added that when the investment plan has been completed, then the financing model will be examined.