The national water company Mekorot has published its financial reports for the first quarter of 2023, from which it appears that the company recorded a net profit of approximately NIS 51 million, compared to a net profit of approximately NIS 75 million in the corresponding period last year. The decrease in net profit was partly due to the recognition of an expenditure of approximately NIS 50 million (as part of the changes in regulatory accounts) in favor of earmarking profits in this amount to reduce the water tariff.
A review of the company's results reveals that the total revenues for the reporting period amounted to approximately 924 million shekels, a decrease of a little more than one percent compared to the total revenues in the first quarter of 2022, in which the company recorded revenues totaling 939 million. The decrease is mainly attributed to a decrease in income from private water producers, as well as to a decrease of approximately 1.7% in water rates.
The segmentation of the national consumption data shows that during the reporting period there was an increase in total water consumption in the agricultural sector at a rate of approximately 21.5%, while water consumption for the household sector recorded an increase in the first quarter of the year at a rate of approximately 4.6%. CEO of Mekorot Amit Lang: "Mekorot continues the development momentum in order to ensure reliable and quality water supply to the residents of Israel and its neighbors. Last March, we announced the establishment of an international water forum as part of the UN's Water Week, and explained that in an era of global warming, the countries of the world are turning their eyes to Israel, to learn how the small desert country became a water powerhouse, through, among other things, the implementation of technological and innovative tools."
The chairman of the board Yitzhak Aharonovich: "The company has many challenges, including increasing the supply to the residents of Israel and neighboring countries, when the development of the residential and commercial areas depends, among other things, on a stable and fast connection to the national water system of all the regions of the country."
