Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. I'm Constantinos, your Chorus Call operator. Welcome, and thank you for joining the Ellaktor Group conference call and live webcast to present and discuss the Ellaktor Group first half 2023 results. All participants will be in listen-only mode, and the conference is being recorded. The presentation will be followed by a question and answer session for institutional investors and analysts via audio conference. Please refer to invitation received if you wish to connect to the audio conference for your questions. Should anyone need assistance during the conference call, you may signal an operator by pressing star and zero on your telephone. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Mr. Efthymios Bouloutas, CEO of Ellaktor Group. Mr. Dimosthenis Revelas, CFO, Ellaktor S.A., Ms. Aphrodite Avramea, Head of Strategy, and Mr.
Andreas Panagiotopoulos, Group Treasurer and Finance Manager. Mr. Revelas, you may now proceed.
Thank you. Good afternoon, and welcome to Ellaktor's conference call regarding our first half 2023 results. The press release announcing Ellaktor's financial and operating results for H1, the consolidated financial information, and the presentation were issued on Friday. They are all available on the investor section of our website, www.ellaktor.com. On our call today, we will share with you the business update and review of our financial results, which will be then followed by a Q&A session. Allow me now to turn over the floor to Mr. Bouloutas.
Thank you, Dimos. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you very much for your participation in Ellaktor's first half 2023 financial results overview. We will follow the presentation that has been uploaded in our website on Friday. If you can turn to page number 3, we will give you a brief group business update followed by business update, financial highlights, and business update of the individual units. As you probably know, on March 30, 2023, Ellaktor, Aktor Concessions and Intrakat signed an agreement for the sale and purchase of all shares in Aktor S.A., which is our construction subsidiary. The completion of this transaction is pending clearance from the Hellenic Competition Commission, which has initiated the Stage B process on August 30, 2023.
Stage two is an investigation, an in-depth analysis of the merger's effect on competition and typically involves more extensive information gathering, extensive economic data, and detailed questionnaires to various market participants. We have been through the questionnaire phase, and we expect that this deal will close during the fall, so we expect we will do the financial closing by the end of the year. On a different development, on September ninth, REDS, our real estate subsidiary, has announced that they are in advanced exclusive negotiations with Trade Estates, a real estate investment company which belongs to Fourlis Group, for the likely sale of its fully owned subsidiary, Yalou Emporiki, the owner of the Smart Park retail park.
Based on all this, in compliance with IFRS 5 non-current assets held for sale and discontinued operations, we are showing the results of Ellaktor Group for the first half of 2023 are reported separately as continuing operations. C.O., i.e., as the group will operate following the sale of AKTOR and discontinued operations, which includes AKTOR results until June thirtieth, 2023, and the renewable energy activity results until the end of last year. The book values of assets and liabilities for all companies in construction segment and Yalou Emporiki were classified as held for sale as of thirtieth of June of 2023. Turning now to pages 6 and 7, we present the financial highlights.
In six, we have bullet points, and in seven we have the complete tabulation of our financial results. So I'm gonna refer you to both those pages concurrently. So, our first half continuing operation revenue came in at EUR 186 million, approximately stable for the full year of the continuing operations. The continuing operation EBITDA came in at EUR 94.2 million versus EUR 73 million with registering an increase of almost 29%, predominantly coming from concessions and real estate. We will discuss about that in a minute. Our continuing operation first half 2023 pre-tax profit came in at EUR 46.3 million versus EUR 11.5 million last year, and the net income was EUR 32.1 million versus practically break even for the same period of 2022.
The net cash of the group amounts to EUR 180 million versus net cash of approximately EUR 150 million at the end of the previous year. The equity attributable to shareholders is at EUR 840 million, while our operating cash flow for the first half of this year is EUR 87 million, compared to approximately EUR 66 million during the same period of last year... If we now turn to the tabular form of our results, depicted in page 7, here you see that in terms of a revenue increase, we are registering a healthy 7% increase on the first half of this year. We are also showing the results on a twelve-month trailing basis, so you can see the key underlying annual trends.
Key differences in underlying trends is concessions up 7% due to increased traffic, and also real estate up 18% due to an increase of both traffic in the malls, but also inflation-adjusted revenue, revenue and rent increases. In terms of EBITDA, concession came in with a 24% increase, EUR 85 million versus EUR 69 million of last year, while the real estate, in real estate, we have EUR 8.6 million versus EUR 27 million. Both of these results are organic and inorganic. In concessions, last year, I remind you that we took an exceptional charge of almost EUR 9 million for the snowstorm Elpis. That included the compensation to drivers that were effectively stranded in the for less than 12 hours.
So if you take that out, then you see the underlying trend is approximately the same to the traffic trend. While in the real estate we book an exceptional profit due to the sale of two Romanian assets, we will come back in a second. All in all, in our continuing operation, on an EBITDA level or on a revenue level, we are up 4%, and on an EBITDA level, we register a very healthy 13% increase. Moving on to page number 8 and 9, here we present business updates of the segments of construction, concession, environment, and real estate, the key subsidiaries of Ellaktor Group.
On the construction front, as of June 30th, the actual backlog was EUR 2.2 billion, with EUR 263 million projects signed during the first half of this year. That includes Kalamata Highway, part of the North Crete Highway BOAK, which amounts to EUR 49 million for our share, and the Panathinaikos Stadium of EUR 29 million. Again, this is our share. This is a consortium of all construction companies in Greece. An additional EUR 20 million have been signed post the first half of this year. And taken together, AKTOR and subsidiaries have been declared preferred bidders for projects valued at approximately EUR 400 million, bringing the current backlog to EUR 2.6 billion.
Aktor is actively participating in competitive bidding processes for many projects in Greece, the total value of which is EUR 12 billion in various stages of procurement. On the concession front, traffic for Attica was up approximately 12% year-on-year for the first half and 10% higher compared to the pre-COVID levels of the first half of 2019. A company jointly owned by Aktor Concessions with Intrakat with 60/40 participation signed the 30-year PPP for the construction, operation, and maintenance of Southwest Peloponnese road access in April, end of April 2023. The partnership of GEK TERNA, 55% Aktor Concessions, 20% Intrakat, 25%, signed the 30-year PPP for the Neapolis part of the North Crete Highway. This happened again in April 2023. We have submitted a bid as consortium with Mytilineos, 50/50.
It's a binding offer for the construction, operation, maintenance of the concession of the Heraklion part of the North Crete Highway on May eighth, 2023. This bid has been challenged by one of the participants, and it's gonna go through a court phase. We believe that the bids will be opened at the end of October 2023. Finally, GEK TERNA, Aktor Concessions, and AVAX submitted an unsolicited proposal called Project Athena, which includes extension of Attica's road network towards Lavrio, Rafina, and Evia. Turning on to our environmental segment, we've signed a joint venture with WATT, 50/50, for the contract of operation, maintenance, and leachate capacity increase in Western Attica integrated waste management facility.
This construction budget of EUR 17 million, with a four-year operation budget of EUR 24 million, and preemption right for another EUR 33 million for extra four years. We signed a EUR 3 million contract for the sanitary, landfill site and composting unit in Milos, in the island of Milos. Together with AKTOR, Helector has done a joint venture and has been declared as preferred bidders for an EUR 82 million contract procured by the Public Power Corporation for 65 megawatt-hours, natural gas-fired cogeneration plant in, Kozani. Another project that has been led by Helector is the waste management processing unit for Chersonissos, Crete. The construction budget is EUR 21.5 million, and the operation budget is EUR 12 million for three years, with a preemption right of another EUR 12 million for an extra three years.
Helector is participating again in various several new tenders, which has the potential to increase both the construction backlog and, more importantly, the revenues from operation. Finally, on the real estate front, financial closing of the Gournes, the 350 stremmas plot in northern Crete, has been completed in February 2023. We sold two plots of land in Romania for a total consideration of EUR 13 million, booking a profit of EUR 5.8 million in April and May 2023. The trends that we're experiencing in Smart Park have a very positive momentum, with footfall higher by 21%, and tenants' retail sales rising by 27% year-on-year for the first half of this year.
And finally, as we said, REDS is in exclusive advanced negotiation with Trade Estates for a likely sale of the Smart Parks, which the main operating asset. I'm gonna stop here and give the floor over to Dimos to give you more color and depth in our financial results. So, Dimos?
Thank you. Switching to slide number 12, and focusing on continuing operations, that is all group activities but construction. Revenues were flattish at EUR 186 million, as the increase registered in concessions in real estate were counterbalanced by lower sales in environment, mainly due to base effects, on which we will comment further down the presentation. In terms of territorial breakdown, sales in Greece accounted for 95% of revenues from continuing operations. The total cost base of continuing operations, comprising both cost of sales and other operating expenses, but excluding depreciation, decreased by 7% to EUR 103 million.
As a result of the two above, continuing operations EBITDA for the period rose 29% to EUR 94 million, and the respective margin stayed at 51%, higher by 12 percentage points compared to last year, the same period of last year. Finally, post-tax earnings amounted to EUR 32 million from break-even position last year, and earnings after tax and after minorities to EUR 18 million from losses of EUR 88 million a year ago. I'm repeating, earnings of 18 compared to losses of 88. On page 15, total equity attributable to shareholders at the end of the period amounted to EUR 840 million, that is, 2.41 EUR per share, with the ratio of total equity over total assets standing at 33%.
The total indebtedness amounted to EUR 597 million, of which an amount of almost EUR 400 million, 397 to be precise, corresponds to Moreas. Total indebtedness is lower by some EUR 95 million compared to December thirty-first, and this is mainly driven by the classification of construction and Smart Park as held for sale. More than 80% of our total indebtedness is either on a fixed rate or hedged, partially or fully. Moving on to page 16, we provide on this slide our usual net debt breakdown, having, for comparability purposes, adjusted debt and cash items as of December thirty-first, to reflect construction and Smart Park as held for sale. Excluding Moreas, we have a net cash position of about EUR 180 million, while total net debt, including Moreas, stands at EUR 184 million.
That is a one-time twelve-month trailing EBITDA from continuing operations. On page 17, a couple of points on the drivers of cash flow for the period. Operating cash flows, as already said, from continuing operations, amounted to EUR 87 million compared to EUR 67 million a year ago. The most significant investment outlay of the period was an amount of EUR 21 million for the acquisition of Gournes, while we also had an inflow of EUR 13 million from the sale of two properties in Romania. Net flows from financing activities are chiefly linked to the refinancing of Smart Park at the beginning of the year, in February, as well as scheduled repayments of term loans in Aktor Concessions and Moreas. A couple of additional points on for the business units. Moving on to page 19, and for construction.
First half 2023 revenues are EUR 255 million, that is a 6% year-on-year increase, and this is driven by new Greek projects and accelerated progress in the Centura projects in Romania. Domestic activities account for 68% of revenues and 57% of backlog. Losses of almost EUR 10 million were registered at the EBITDA level due to the old loss-making projects in Greece and Romania. We continue to have a positive and benign macroenvironment, with public investments underpinned by an ambitious plan to be funded both by domestic and EU funds, creating thus significant opportunities for infrastructure projects, but personnel shortage remains a concern. Material price increases are slowing down, but industry challenges persist, particularly regarding the progress of existing projects.
This is why legislative interventions such as the price revisions is a, is a must, so, so as to act as a hedge for likely overruns compared to initial budgets. On the concessions front, on page 20, we registered improved, a particularly improved operating profitability with EBITDA up 25, 24% year-on-year. This is driven by strong traffic performance across all assets, especially so for Attiki Odos. On environment, turnover for the period, for the first half of 2023, has dropped by 11% to EUR 50 million, and this is being the result of, on one hand, increased input volumes and gate fees. This is adding almost EUR 1.5 million. The full consolidation of the clinical incinerator activities, another approximately EUR 1 million, an additional EUR 1 million.
On the other side, on the minuses, the suspension of operations of the facility. This is the most important item, -EUR 4 million, and the lower prices of recyclables compared to the inflated 2022 levels. This is another -EUR 3.5 million. Finally, a slightly reduced construction activity also takes out some EUR 1 million. Overall, EBITDA for the period was EUR 6.1 million, reflecting a 14% year-on-year decrease, partly attributable to a EUR 1.2 million asset write-off related to life cycle maintenance. Of course, if we were to exclude this item, our EBITDA position would be slightly higher by 2.5%. EBIT and pre-tax profits both rose by 1% and 5% year-on-year, respectively, thanks to lower depreciation charges and better financial items.
I think we've covered most of what we had to say on real estate. Revenue is up 15%. This is purely organic, and EBITDA boosted or flattered, if you want, by the EUR 5.8 million gain recorded on the sale of our two assets in Romania. The next few slides of the presentation highlight our ESG initiatives and performance, which have been already presented in our respective presentation for fiscal year 2022. For full disclosure and more details on the subject, you can refer to our 2022 sustainability report, which has been recently published and is available on our website. Finally, in the appendix, you are also provided with additional information on PNL by segment for the period and segmental breakdown of the group's net debt, as we always, as we usually do. This conclude our presentation.
I would now like to open the floor for any questions you may have.
Ladies and gentlemen, at this time, we will begin the question and answer session. As a reminder, management will receive questions from institutional investors and analysts and via audio conference. Please refer to invitation received if you wish to connect to the audio conference for your questions. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star followed by one on their telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, then you may press star and two. Please use your handset when asking your question for better quality. Anyone who has a question, press star and one at this time. One moment for the first question, please. The first question is from the line of Nikos Athanasoulas with Eurobank Equities. Please go ahead.
Hello. Thank you very much for the presentation and for taking my questions. I have a couple of questions, if I may. The first one is, regarding, carrying EBITDA, excluding, Attiki Odos. Can you please tell us what was that like in the, for the half year, and how does it compare, compare to, to 2022? And my second question is, do you expect to, to, make more disposal, asset disposals, in the second half or in 2024, or, after Aktor, this is the last major asset that should be disposed? Thank you very much.
Okay, let me take the first part of the first question, naturally. We don't have H1 figures for Attiki Odos, but, you know, for ease of reference, please be reminded that Attiki Odos is an asset yielding approximately EUR 150 million per annum. So you can assume or calculate. Now, on the second question, we're continuously evaluating the portfolio of our subsidiaries. We don't anticipate any further sales on the second half of this year. We're very focused on the disposal of AKTOR, and we're working towards the potential disposal of Smart Park.
Great. Thank you very much.
As a reminder, if you would like to ask a question, please press star and one on your telephone. The next question is from the line of Constantinos Zouzoulas with Axia Ventures. Please go ahead.
... Thank you for taking my question. Any update about Alimos Marina, and what about a timetable for this asset? Thank you.
Well, in Alimos Marina, we have an investment, an investment plan. And we are expecting the joint ministerial decision because three different ministers need to approve it. We had a positive council, municipal council decision. So hopefully in the next, I would say 2-3 months, we expect the joint ministerial decision, after which, we will employ we will go to the design and construction phase. So 6 months after the joint ministerial decision, you would expect that, we're gonna have, you know, the project up and running in full effect.
Okay. All right. Thank you.
Once again, to register for a question, please press star and one on your telephone. As a final reminder, to register for a question, please press star and one on your telephone. Ladies and gentlemen, there are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the conference over to management for any closing comments. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you very much. As discussed, I think we're coming closer to a point where, as we continue our investment process in various infrastructure projects in Greece, we're coming closer to the point where the investor patience in Ellaktor will be rewarded. So hopefully, next year we will be able to distribute back some of our increasing cash position to our shareholders. We're not in a position to say details yet, but we will do so in our next conference call. So thank you very much, and have a good evening.
Ladies and gentlemen, the conference is now concluded, and you may disconnect your telephone. Thank you for calling and have a pleasant evening.