The latest round of first-half financial reports released by Bulgarian listed companies revealed battered sales, losses or plunging profits.

Car battery maker Monbat saw a 50 per cent drop in sales, matching a decrease in its profit. Sales in the second quarter are expected at 21.7 million leva and the pre-tax profit is seen at 3.9 million leva.

Machine builders fared even worse. Order intakes for the period plummeted by 50 per cent to 60 per cent from the first six months of last year, and efforts to streamline costs to counter the crisis have failed to prevent losses.

Farm machines maker Sparky and power tools maker Sparky Eltos waded in red despite the sweeping cuts in expenses.

The two companies have cut working hours and have saved on heating bills following the production halt in December and January.

Moreover, they have put on ice all costs that are not linked to direct production operations. Sparky Eltos is expected to benefit from the lower fuel prices introduced by local distributor Lukoil Bulgaria. Sparky has slashed paychecks by 25 per cent and downsized 37 per cent of its workforce. It now has 509 people on the payroll, having moved about 60 staff to one of its subsidiaries, real estate company Prista Park.

The two companies have also scrapped supervisory boards’ pay for this year.

The companies within Stara Planina Hold are also bracing themselves for a sharp decline in sales but profits for the first half are expected at the holding company, hydraulic motors manufacturers M+S Hydraulic and Hydraulic Elements and Systems, and Elchim Iskra.

The companies’ consolidated sales have tumbled 61 per cent year-on-year in the six months, a trend that is expected to spill into July as well.

Source: Dnevnik.bg