Last year, Pražská plynárenská’s net profit increased by 26 percent to 908.5 million crowns, and revenues rose by 2.3 percent to 15.1 billion crowns. This follows from the annual report, which the company published on its website. The company sold 12.2 terawatt-hours of gas last year, down 6.8 percent year-on-year. Electricity sales, on the other hand, rose by more than a quarter to 1.6 terawatt-hours.
“The results of natural gas trade in 2020 were significantly affected by several factors. The key factor was the development of purchase prices, the decline in which reached a long-term low, especially during the second and third quarters. Another factor was the overall course of consumption by end customers. This was reflected in both the warmer course of the first quarter and the decline in economic activity, “the company said in its annual report.
Pražská plynárenská has long been one of the largest domestic energy suppliers. It supplies gas and electricity to about 425,000 consumption points. The sole shareholder of the company is Pražská plynárenská Holding, controlled by the capital city of Prague. In mid-January this year, the company’s Supervisory Board removed Pavel Janeček, the current Chairman of the Board of Directors of Pražská plynárenská. He was replaced by the former head of ČEZ’s renewable resources department, Martin Pacovský.
The company also stated in the annual report that, despite the pandemic situation last year, it managed to increase sales of compressed natural gas CNG at their ten filling stations. At the end of 2020, a total of 184 CNG vehicles, including CNG car rental vehicles, were operated at Pražská plynárenská and its subsidiaries.
According to the company, the spread of the covid-19 pandemic has also affected customer interest in non-commodity products. “Fears of the disease postponed the planned replacement of boilers or the installation of photovoltaic power plants until the second half of the year and in some cases stopped them altogether. Nevertheless, even in 2020, there was a growing interest in non-commodity products, with the most in-demand being services related to the installation of a new gas boiler or its service. Also this year, there was also a growing interest in the acquisition of a photovoltaic power plant and the subsequent purchase of surpluses from electricity production, “the company said in the report.
In the middle of January this year they also founded the company Teplo pro Kbely with the city district of Prague 19 – Kbely. The joint venture was established to modernize the existing heat management of the Prague 19 district. According to the company, this is the first significant cooperation with local governments for Prometheus, energy services, which is a member of the Pražská plynárenská concern.
“The whole project brings several synergy effects for the entire Pražská plynárenská group. Prometheus Energy Services alone will increase its annual heat supply by 15 percent, ”the company said. Prometheus’ ownership interest in Teplo pro Kbely is 75 percent.