Agricultural land leasing company Elana Agrocredit (0EA BU) expanded bottom line by 32.1% y/y to BGN 831k in Q1’19, according to recent quarterly financial statements published by the Company. During the first quarter of the year, the Company earned 7.8% y/y higher interest income of BGN 1.1m. It also sold land for the amount of BGN 4.2m and reported a BGN 16k profit from the sale.

Operating costs were kept almost flat. After decreasing its indebtedness level, in Q1’19 Elana Agrocredit incurred 40% y/y lower financial expenses of BGN 150k, which added to the bottom line. Accordingly, post-taxes, its net profit reached BGN 831k, up 32.1% y/y.

Decreasing debt positions

Since the start of the year, Elana Agrocredit has financed deals for BGN 1.4m (down 63% y/y), increasing the total amount of investments since inception to BGN 75.4m. In Q1’19, its non-current finance lease receivables dropped 6.1% to BGN 31.9m since the start of the year. During Q1’19, the Company further decreased its debt position after repaying BGN 3.9m of the EUR 5m EBRD Tranche C loan in Feb’19. As a result, at the end of the first quarter the long-term debt stood at BGN 13.8m (down 19% since end-2018), including BGN 7.7m bank loans and BGN 6.2m bond financing, while short-term interest-bearing loans reached BGN 3.8m (down 15% since end-2018).