Government water company Mekorot made NIS 83 million in the first quarter

Government water company Mekorot made NIS 83 million in the first quarter of 2020 - an increase of 13% compared to the same quarter in 2019.
Its source, which is managed by Eli Cohen, noted that the Corona crisis did not materially affect its financial results and there were no significant delays in development activity due to restrictions related to the spread of the virus.
Mekorot's revenues grew 19% in the past quarter compared to the same quarter in 2019, amounting to NIS 914 million. The increase in revenues is due to a 13% increase in water supply revenues in the past quarter compared to its corresponding in 2019 to NIS 699 million. The increase in revenue is due to a 10% increase in tariffs and a 4% increase in the amount of water supplied.
The quantitative increase in water supply has been distributed differently between the home sector and agriculture. Sources provided 201 million cubic meters to the home sector in the first quarter of 2020 - a 12% increase over the same quarter in 2019, so that the consumption curb trend seems to have loosened following a rainy two years.
Falling rainfall in the first quarter of 2020 led to an 11% drop in water supply to the agriculture sector in the past quarter compared to its corresponding in 2019, to 81 million cubic meters.
Another source of growth in Mekorot's revenues was a 217% jump in the first quarter of 2020 compared to its corresponding in 2019 in its revenues from private water producers to NIS 92 million. The explanation for the unusual jump is apparently the intention of the Water Authority's board to determine in the framework of the expected water tariff update in July 2020, that 85% of the water fee charges that sources did not collect will be deducted from its recognized income. In so doing, the Water Authority hopes to produce a whip that will force sources to improve collection to prevent a situation in which the debts of consumers or private water producers who have not been collected will be offset by its recognized income, thereby lowering the water tariff.
According to the Water Law, sources were charged to collect the income that comes to the water from private water producers, and from the jump in revenue from this section, the threat of the authority seems to offset the unpaid debts from the recognized income to the sources achieved its purpose.
Mekorot's accounting loss decreased by 85% in the first quarter of 2020 compared to its corresponding quarter in 2019, amounting to NIS 34 million. The decline in the gross loss was due to the sharp increase in income from sources.
Another factor in the decrease in gross loss was a decrease of NIS 40 million (4%) in the cost of sales and work of Mekorot in the first quarter of 2020, compared with the corresponding quarter in 2019 to NIS 948 million, as a result of a decrease in energy tariffs and a reduction in water purchases expenses according to the Water Authority's requirement. .
Mekorot completed the first quarter of 2020 with adjusted gross profit of NIS 133 million, compared with adjusted gross profit of NIS 132 million in the corresponding quarter of 2019.