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5.2 New investments
The economic climate during 2012 re-
sulted in suffocating conditions for
Greek businesses, characterised pri-
marily by the uncertainty regarding the
progress of investment plans. In this
negative juncture, MYTILINEOS Group,
relying on its strong export orientation,
consistent cash flow and liquidity
management and strict cost controls,
succeeded in posting financial results
that stood at levels comparable to its
record-high ones of 2011.
2012 saw the completion of our sub-
stantial energy investment plan, despite
the particularly adverse conditions.
The end of the year found the Group
in a strong position, as it has achieved
its strategic goals – to globalise its busi-
ness operations, to improve its com-
petitiveness and to build a balanced
portfolio of industrial activities, thus lay-
ing solid foundations that allow it to
look to the future with optimism.
In particular, developments during
2012 in the Group’s activity sectors
were as follows:
EPC
Projects
Throughout last year, METKA S.A. was
faced with the consequences of the
volatile economic environment. The lack
of confidence in Greece led to serious ob-
stacles in the company’s international ac-
tivity, making its efforts to secure new
projects all the more difficult. At the same
time, the company had to address the is-
sues and challenges caused by the esca-
lating tension in Syria. With a strong
sense of responsibility, the company’s
Management took all necessary measures
to ensure the protection of its employ-
ees and facilities, working out alternative
ways in which work on its local project
could progress, so that the project could
be completed as soon as possible. Despite
these obstacles, the company remained
steadily on a positive course during
2012, rising to the challenges with a high
level of professionalism and drawing on
the credibility and reliability it had build
for itself over the previous years.
Remaining committed to its strategy of
international orientation and continued
enhancement of its exporting profile;
METKA continued to generate most of
its revenues abroad and achieved a sub-
stantial expansion of its portfolio of in-
ternational projects.
Energy
For MYTILINEOS Group, the
commercial operation of the
PROTERGIA S.A. plant in
Ag. Nikolaos and of the
KORINTHOS POWER plant, in
June 2011 and April 2012, re-
spectively, signalled the comple-
tion of the first phase of the
Group’s investment plan with
installed thermal capacity 1,2GW.
Additionally, on 17/1/2013 the
Ministry of Environment, Energy
and Climate Change issued the
commercial operation licence for
the High Efficiency Combined
Heat and Power plant (CHP/High
Efficiency CHP) of ALUMINIUM
S.A. This plant was already in tri-
al operation since 28/11/2012, as
the Electricity Market Operator in-
cluded it in the national grid
configuration as a Distributed
High-Efficiency CHP Plant in trial
operation, following the conclu-
sion of an agreement under
which the electricity produced by
the plant and injected into the
national grid was measured and
priced accordingly.
Metallurgy
& Mining
We have given priority to the ap-
plication of strict cost controls
and to reducing operating costs
in ALUMINIUM S.A., in order to
improve the company’s compet-
itive position. The satisfactory
progress of the “MELLON” com-
petitiveness improvement pro-
gramme was already reflected in
the sector’s financial results for
the second half of 2012, which
were markedly improved com-
pared to the first half of the year.
More specifically, the actions
which ALUMINIUM S.A. had iden-
tified under the “MELLON” pro-
gramme by the end of 2012 ac-
count for more than 80% of the
programme’s final cost savings
target. The full recognition of the
benefits of these actions in the fi-
nancial results posted by
ALUMINIUM S.A. and by the
Group has already started during
2012 and is expected to be grad-
ually completed during 2013.
