Atomenergoprom, the holding company of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, on 7 September reported consolidated net profit for the first half of 2017 of RUB40.7bn ($700m), up 89% on the same period of 2016 (RUB21.5bn). Power generation accounted for 17% of the growth and energy equipment manufacturing for 36%. Export revenues, at RUB77.4bn, represented 24.3% of consolidated revenue, which was RUB319.1bn a 16.7% increase on the RUB273.3bn reported for the first half of 2016. Rosatom said stabilisation of foreign currency exchange rates increased consolidated earnings in 2017, compared with 2016 which saw currency exchange losses of RUB49.3bn. Total debt decreased by 24.9% to RUB222.3bn down from RUB295.8bn on 31 December 2016.
Rosatom First Deputy Director-General Kirill Komarov said the results showed "robust growth and reinforce the reality that nuclear energy remains commercially attractive". He added: "Despite all the difficulties the global energy sector is now facing, we have managed to maintain a healthy financial position with a strong debt/EBITDA ratio and low implied cost of debt. This enables us to maintain our leadership position and continue to invest about 4.5% of our revenue in R&D, to ensure we can maintain our technological edge."
