During the first three months this year the sales of electricity by Latvenergo Group have increased by 2% compared to the corresponding period of last year. The market shares of the Group in Estonia and Lithuania have increased and Latvenergo has maintained a stable leading position in Latvia, also 10,000 customers have been gained outside Latvia.

In the first quarter of this year, if compared to the corresponding period of last year, the sales of electricity by Latvenergo Group have increased by 87 GWh or 34% in Lithuania and by 125 GWh or 96% in Estonia. Subsidiaries of Latvenergo AS - Elektrum Lietuva, UAB and Elektrum Eesti, OÜ - have successfully taken advantage of the changes in the market situation in both neighbouring countries.

During the first quarter of this year Elektrum Lietuva, UAB has gained new customers in the fields of manufacturing, agriculture and property management in Lithuania. The manufacturer of cement Akmenes Cementas, AB is the biggest customer in Lithuania with whom an agreement on continuing the current successful cooperation has been reached. 344 GWh of electricity have been sold in Lithuania during this time period and this is 34% more than during the first quarter of last year, thus the market share of Elektrum Lietuva, UAB in Lithuania has increased up to 13%.

With regard to Estonia, the sales of electricity by Elektrum Eesti, OÜ amount to 256 GWh during this period, and this is 96% more than in the 1st quarter of 2012. The market share of Elektrum Eesti, OÜ in Estonia has increased up to 11%. During the first quarter Elektrum Eesti, OÜ has regained the water supply utility Tallina Vesi, AS from its competitor and has started to supply electricity to this company.

“With regard to the success in the Baltics, the development of the market in Lithuania and Estonia has been very dynamic by now. The results of Elektrum during the first 6 months after the introduction of this brand prove that this was the right step. Each country has its own specific features and challenges, for example, in Estonia the market is very active, there is fierce competition among several players, it is more complicated and more challenging for us than we had expected. However, also in this situation we have managed to almost double our market share up to 11% and we have gained 7,000 customers. Our long term goal is to achieve a 20% market share, therefore it is clear that there are even more challenges ahead of us.

In Lithuania we work with small and medium companies, and this market is a challenge for both us and our competitors for getting it “to move” because many customers have not changed their supplier of electricity although the prices paid by them are higher than the market could offer. Still it has to be admitted that the start in Lithuania has been good, currently we have almost 3,000 business customers who together account for 13% of the Lithuanian market share.

If we have to give a general description of the first quarter we can certainly say that Latvenergo has benefited from the market situation in comparison to other market players. Our sales outside Latvia are still above the sales lost to competitors in Latvia, in the first quarter of this year this difference was 107%. This is a very good result," emphasises Dāvis Skulte, Electricity Sales Director of Latvenergo AS.

By withstanding the increasing competition as regards business customers also in Latvia Latvenergo AS has managed to keep its positions and has maintained its leading market position with an 86% market share.

The electricity sales brand Elektrum of Latvenergo AS was introduced in 2012 for the purpose of taking advantage of the liberalised electricity market in the Baltics and attracting new customers. The subsidiaries Elektrum Eesti, OÜ and Elektrum Lietuva, UAB are independent companies registered in their respective countries with their own structure, Management Board and a local team. The market share of the Latvenergo Group accounts for 33% of the total Baltic electricity market where the total consumption currently amounts to approximately 25,400 GWh. Approximately 80% of the sales of electricity have been to customers in Latvia and 20% to retail customers in Lithuania and Estonia.

Additional information:
Jānis Irbe
Group Treasurer
Phone: +371 67 728 239
E-mail: investor.relations@latvenergo.lv

www.latvenergo.lv/investors/eng

About Latvenergo

The Latvenergo Group is the largest power supply merchant in the Baltics, engaging in electricity generation and trade as well as providing electricity distribution and management of transmission system assets. Latvenergo holds one-third of the entire Baltic electricity market. Latvenergo AS has been acknowledged as the most valuable company in Latvia for several years in a row. International credit rating agency Moody’s has assigned Latvenergo AS an investment-grade credit rating of Baa3/stable.

The Latvenergo Group includes the parent company Latvenergo AS (electricity generation and trade, thermal energy generation) and its subsidiaries Latvijas elektriskie tīkli AS (management of transmission system assets), Sadales tīkls AS (electricity distribution), Elektrum Eesti OÜ (electricity trade in Estonia), Elektrum Lietuva UAB (electricity trade in Lithuania) and Liepājas enerģija SIA (thermal energy generation and trade, electricity generation), as well as Elektrum Latvija SIA, a subsidiary of Elektrum Eesti OÜ.