Earnings of the listed and to be listed companies

Estonia
‰ The pre-tax profit of the Tallinna Kulmhoone AS freeze plant company was 7.97 million kroons ($549,600), 2.9 million kroons or 57 percent higher than in the first half of 1997.
‰ The net profit of the Estiko group in the first half of 1998 was 4.1 million kroons, 0.8 million kroons or 16.7 percent less than in the first half of 1997.
‰ Hansa Capital earned 101.3 million kroons net profit in the first half of the year, and its total assets at the end of June stood at 4.93 billion kroons.
‰ At a general meeting of shareholders of Ukio Draudimas, Estonia's Leks Kindlustus (Leks Insurance) affiliate in Lithuania, decided to raise the company's stock capital by 800,000 litas ($200,000) to 6.5 million litas. "The shares will be issued proportionally to the present shareholders at par value or at 1,000 litas a share," Leks Kindlustus public relations director Rivo Saarna told BNS.
‰ AS Harju Elekter's sales turnover was 69.4 million kroons and net profit 9 million kroons in the six-month period from January through June. Harju Elekter board chairman Endel Palla said the growth in turnover and profit as compared with the same period last year was respectively 56 percent and 11 percent.
‰ The Viru Rand fish processer earned 8.2 million kroons net profit in the period from January through June 1998, 3.3 million kroons more than in the same period last year. In June, the company reported to the stock exchange that it earned 0.9 million kroons net profit. Last June the company sustained 1.5 million kroons of loss.
‰ Hansapank Group earned 178.1 million kroons of net profit in the first half of 1998, according to consolidated figures reported by Hansapank to the Helsinki stock exchange. The group's consolidated total assets stood at 16,026 million kroons. The total assets of the Hansapank Group increased by 1.6 billion kroons in the first six months of 1998. On the year, Hansapank grew by 5.97 billion kroons.
‰ Leks Kindlustus (Leks Insurance) and Leks Elukindlustus (Leks Life Insurance) collected 102.5 million kroons of premiums in the first six months of 1998, of this 17.6 million kroons were collected in June. The companies paid out 53.5 million kroons in claim settlements in the six-month period, of which June's payments accounted for 15.3 million, the company reported to the stock exchange.
‰ Eesti Gaas (Estonian Gas) reported 10.3 million kroons in losses in the first six months of 1998. Eesti Gaas's turnover in the six-month period from January through June was 354.6 million kroons, 2.4 percent more than in the same period last year, the company's financial director, Vaike Pallo, told BNS.

Latvia
‰ The Latvian Grindex pharmaceuticals factory earned a net profit of 301,820 lats on a turnover of 4,593,887 lats ($7.4 million) in the first six months of this year. The company's director general, Vitalijs Skrivelis told reporters the turnover exceeded the figure for the first half of last year by 11.5 percent. He admitted, however, that the company had earned somewhat less than expected so far this year as the planned profit for 1998 is 1.2 million lats on a turnover of 11.4 million lats. Skrivelis mentioned two main reasons for the less-than-predicted earnings: the Russian budget crisis in May and June and the new provisions of a law on the value-added tax.
‰ The Rezekne Milk Cannery (RMC) earned a net profit of 473,393 lats in the first six months of this year and its net turnover was 7,213,615 lats. The RMC had a share capital of 3.5 million lats on June 20, while its equity capital totalled 4,643,633 lats.
‰ The Jekabpils Sugar Factory incurred a loss of 478,493 lats in the first half of this year on a net turnover of 3.4 million lats. The company's share capital is 1.9 million lats and its equity capital is 1,945,749 lats.
‰ The UBAK tower and motor crane company was 14,473 lats in the red on a net turnover of 195,322 lats in the first half of this year. UBAK's share capital was 864,000 lats on June 30, while its equity was 875,007 lats.
‰ The Lode brick company reported earnings of 223,964 lats in the first six months of this year on a turnover of 1,213,839 lats. Lode had a share capital of 1,129,381 lats and an equity capital of 1,521,482 lats on June 30.
‰ The company Jelgavas Buvkombinats (Jelgava Building Materials Company) was 28,975 lats in the red in the first six months of this year on a turnover of 50,984 lats. The company's share capital and equity capital accounted for respective 1.6 million and 1.46 million lats.
‰ The Riga Transport Fleet company saw earnings of 2,163,082 lats in the first six months of this year. The operating turnover of the company was 57,944 lats.
‰ The Valmiera Fiberglass company's profit in the first six months of this year was 587,757 lats. The net turnover of the company was 6,331,956 lats in the period.
‰ The Latvian Gutta juice company posted a net profit of 2.03 million lats in the first half of this year on a turnover of 12.05 million lats. In the first half of last year, Gutta turned over 9.4 million lats. Gutta's increased turnover and net profit resulted from an increase in sales volume and the development of 20 new products. Gutta sells about 20 percent of its output in Latvia, while the remaining 80 percent is exported.
‰ Liepajas Ellas Ekstrakcijas Rupnica (Liepaja Edible Oil Factory) suffered a loss of 21,872 lats on a turnover of 1.558 million lats in the first half of this year.
‰ The Olaines Kudra peat factory earned a net profit of 67,562 lats in the first half of this year, Economic Director Brigita Kraule told BNS. The company's net turnover was 547,827 lats in the six month period.
‰ The Latvian Staburadze pastry company earned a net profit of 381,300 lats in the first six months of this year. In the first quarter of this year, Staburadze netted 225,900 lats on a turnover of 2.12 million lats. This year's profit target of the company has been set at 800,000 lats on a turnover of 9.1 million lats. It plans to pay 50 percent of the profit in dividends.
‰ The Liepaja Sugar Factory earned a net profit of 977,000 lats in the first half of this year, Chief Accountant Biruta Kalnina told BNS. Compared to the same period of last year, the profit has increased by 444,000 lats.
‰ The Latvian Tukums Meatpacking Company incurred a loss of 85,232 lats in the first half of this year on a net turnover of 1,541,119 lats. On June 30, the meatpacker had an equity capital of 1,492,850 lats and a share capital of 1,504,000 lats.
‰ The Latvian Veldze soft drinks producer earned a net profit of 2,528 lats in the first half of this year on a turnover of 210,388 lats. On June 30, Veldze's equity capital was 532,410 lats and its share capital was 686,400 lats.
‰ The Jekabpils Sugar Factory will end the first half of this year at a loss, its chairman of the board, Talivaldis Puga said. He says the sugar factory's work is determined by seasonal factors, and the activity has not begun yet. Sugar factories usually start to earn a profit in the third and fourth quarters.
‰ The Liepajas Metalurgs steel plant incurred a loss of 170,000 lats in the first six months of this year on a turnover of 27.5 million lats, company's President Kirov Lipman said. Lipman says the factory has managed to curb the losses compared to the same period of 1997, when it was 259,000 lats in the red. The company's president is hopeful Liepajas Metalurgs will earn a profit this year. "I think, we will earn more than the planned 74,000 lats this year," he said.
‰ The Riga Jewelry Factory will end the first half of this year at a loss, predicted the chairman of the board, Vidis Zakis. Zakis forecasts a profit only in 1999 saying the enterprise had to start everything anew in 1991 because previously its operation was ensured by the Soviet Union.
‰ The undistributed profit of Rigas Komercbanka (Riga Commercial Bank) was 2.118 million lats in the first half of this year, the Riga Stock Exchange reported. The bank netted 915,300 lats in the first six months of last year.
‰ Struzanu Kudras Fabrika (Struzani Peat Factory) earned a profit of 12,970 lats in the first six months of the year, and its net turnover was 248,290 lats.

Lithuania
‰ In the first half of the year, turnover of Lithuania's dairy Siauliu pienas (Siauliai Milk) increased by 7.1 percent, as compared to the same period last year. The company, however, still incurred 900,000 litas ($225,000) in losses. Due to construction of a new plant, the company's loss reached 1.26 million litas last year.
‰ In the first half of the year, Lithuania's cement producer Akmenes Cementas (Akmene Cement) earned 2.15 million litas net profit, almost reaching the entire 1997 profit level. Last year, net profit of the company amounted to 2.6 million litas. In the first six months, turnover of the Akmene-based company in the north of Lithuania reached 59.4 million litas and was 13.6 percent higher, as compared with the same period last year.
‰ In the first half of the year, Dirbtinis Pluostas (Artificial Fiber), the largest acetate fabric producer in the Baltics, earned a 2.14 million litas net profit, 3.1 times less compared with the same period last year. In the first half of 1997, the company earned a 6.73 million litas profit.
‰ In the first half of the year, Vilniaus Pergale, one of the largest Lithuanian confectioneries, sold production worth 26.03 million litas, earning a 1.15 million litas unaudited net profit. As compared with the same period last year, the profit figure decreased three times and sales went down by 22.26 percent.
‰ In the first half of the year, Lithuanian glass-maker Panevezio Stiklas (Panevezys Glass) increased its turnover by 46.5 percent, reducing its losses by 350 percent. This year, the Panevezys-based glass enterprise has seen a slight recovery. In a six month period it sold production worth 47.6 million litas, incurring 1.48 million litas losses. In the same period last year, the company sold production worth 32.5 million litas and incurred 5.2 million litas losses.
‰ In the first half of the year, Lithuania's textile manufacturer Alytaus Tekstile (Alytus Textiles) produced 102.8 million litas worth of manufacturing, cutting down company losses to 6.2 million litas. This year, turnover of the company increased by 10.3 percent. In the first half of 1997, the Alytus-based company in the south of Lithuania incurred losses amounting to 7.8 million litas, while over the year it sustained 19.4 million litas in losses. Due to forecasted reduction of turnover, the company will not have any profit in the third quarter of the year, Grazina Ludaviciene, director of finances, told BNS. In the last quarter of the year, however, the company plans to increase volumes of its sales by 38 percent.