Earnings of the listed and to-be-listed companies

ä The insurer ASA Kindlustuse AS took in 12.92 million kroons ($926,800) in premiums during January, an increase of 1 percent over the same month a year ago.

ä Hansapank ended January with a pre-audit net profit of 32.5 million kroons. The bank had a loss of 3.2 million kroons in January 1998 and 50.3 million kroons in December. Hansapank's assets at the end of last month totaled 21.62 billion kroons as compared with 21.29 billion kroons at the end of December, officials at the bank reported.

ä The Tallinn-based confectionery maker Kalev last year sold 12,754.1 tons of its products, down by 11.6 percent against the previous year. The 1997 sales totaled 14,430.8 tons. Kalev exported 48.4 percent of its output in 1998, down from 79.6 percent in 1997.

ä The insurance company Leks Kindlustus took in 18.99 million kroons in insurance premiums during January, an increase of 24 percent over the same month last year. Claims paid out in January amounted to 8.8 million kroons, compared with 6.3 million kroons in January 1998.

ä Optiva Bank, the new entity resulting from the merger of Investment Bank and Forekspank, ended January with a loss of 582,000 kroons. Piret Villman, head of the bank's budget and planning division, said the loss arose from larger-than-usual expenses due to the bank's change of name and the ongoing restructuring process. Optiva Bank posted a loss of 9.9 million kroons for December.

ä Pro Kapital, the aggressive real estate development company of the Ernesto Preatoni group, recorded a profit of 6.6 million kroons in 1998, compared with 2.3 million kroons in 1997. Net sales in 1998 totaled 72.8 million kroons, an increase of 4 percent over the previous year, the company said. Pro Kapital's total assets doubled during the year - from 173 million to 344 million kroons.

ä The frozen-products maker Tallinna Kulmhoone posted an unaudited profit of 10.9 million kroons for 1998, which is only 48 percent of its 12-month target. Consolidated net sales totaled 335.6 million kroons, or 83.9 percent of the estimate. Finance Director Evald Karu said the lower than expected profit was caused by a slump in the sale of ice cream because of the cold summer.

ä Uhispank ended January with 1,800 kroons in profit. In January 1997, its profit was 30.3 million kroons. The bank, which last year merged with Tallinna Pank, posted a loss of 151 million kroons for December. Uhispank had 13.7 billion kroons in total assets as of Jan. 31, up by 118 million kroons or 0.9 percent during the month. Uhispank, at their auditors' suggestion, is increasing provisioning, adding 90 million kroons to the group's 1998 losses.

Latvia

According to the unaudited financial results of Balta, the insurance company earned a 958,000 lat ($1.65 million) profit in 1998 before taxes.

ä Latvijas Unibanka expects to finish this year with a profit and to achieve better financial performance results than in 1997. Latvijas Unibanka's public relations expert, Liga Liepina, told the Baltic News Service Monday that the bank's council had discussed such prospects in its meeting. "After the loss in 1998 that occurred as a result of making provisions and writing-off the loss, in 1999 Unibanka plans to take up the previous pace of work, deriving good profit and achieving improved key financial results.

Lithuania

The dairy Birzu Akcine Pieno Bendrove posted a net unaudited profit of 1.95 million litas ($487,500) last year, down from 2.7 million litas in 1997. The company's turnover, combined with that of Kauno Surine, amounted to 134 million litas in 1998. The financial statement does not include results posted by Vilniaus Pienas.

ä Panevezio Statybos Trestas posted a net profit of 3.1 million litas in 1998, up from 1.59 million litas in 1997. PST boosted the volume of works and services by 35.7 percent to 99.11 million litas last year, up from 73.02 million litas in 1997.

ä The Kaunas-based Ragutis brewery reported a net profit of 6.18 million litas and a gross profit of 17.25 million litas last year. The company had a net profit of 4.8 million litas and a gross profit of 10.29 million litas in 1997. Ragutis boosted its turnover by 12 percent to 34.46 million litas in 1998, up from 30.75 million litas a year ago. Its beer sales alone grew to 33.08 million litas (excise and bottle price excluded) from 28.69 million litas.