JSC “Latvijas Gāze”

Audited financial results of JSC “Latvijas Gāze” for 2023

JSC “Latvijas Gāze”: Audited financial results of JSC “Latvijas Gāze” for 2023

Year 2023 both for the Company and natural gas markets can be characterized by lower tension and uncertainty compared to the challenging year 2022, when geopolitical events and changes in the regulatory framework both in Latvia and the European Union had significant impact on operations. At the same time, the Company had to work actively to ensure the security, stability of natural gas supply and better natural gas prices to its customers, as well as to maintain competitiveness in changing market conditions both in Latvia and in other natural gas markets where the Company operates. At the beginning of winter, European natural gas storages (including in Latvia) were almost completely filled. The Company has also injected in the Inčukalns underground gas storage (hereinafter – IUGS) all the required natural gas amount to ensure uninterrupted supply of gas, including during 2023/2024 heating season.

Despite lower tension in natural gas markets and lower natural gas prices compared to 2022, natural gas consumption both in Latvia and elsewhere in Europe still remains low. There are a number of reasons for this, but it is mainly due to low activity in the industrial sector, lower demand in the power sector, warm weather conditions and overall slowdown of the economic activity in the eurozone. Also, a commitment has been established in the European Union to voluntarily reduce natural gas consumption by 15% in the period from 1 August 2022 to 31 March 2024, which is in accordance with the European Union Council Regulation (EU) 2023/706 (it amends Council Regulation (EU) 2022/1369).

One of the biggest challenges for the Company in 2023 was the opening of the household natural gas market from the first of May. Despite the competitors' aggressive marketing campaigns and pricing policies, the Company has done extensive work on the development of new products, sales activities, as well as notably changed the customer service model, which has provided results - after the opening of the household natural gas market, the Company has retained 86% of the household customer portfolio compared to the number of customers at the beginning of 2023.