Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for joining. I am Maria Tiidus, the Head of Communications in Tallinna Vesi, and I welcome you all to today's Tallinna Vesi's webinar. This webinar will be hosted by Aleksandr Timofejev, Chief Executive Officer, and Taavi Gröön, Chief Financial Officer. Firstly, Aleksandr Timofejev and Taavi Gröön will introduce the highlights of the third quarter. The presenters will also speak about Tallinna Vesi's operational and financial results of the third quarter of the year, and Aleksandr will also give an overview about some of the investments made in the third quarter.
Right after the presentation, you will have the opportunity to ask questions. It is also possible to type in your questions during the presentation, but these will be answered at the end of the webinar. To submit your questions, please use the question box on the right side of the screen. Now I will hand over to Aleksandr and Taavi. Aleksandr, please start.
Thank you, Maria. Good morning, everyone. I'm happy to welcome you today here in our webinar. Here are some of the highlights from the third quarter of 2022. Negotiations on a new administrative agreement between the city of Tallinn and Tallinn Water for the period from the 1 December, 2022 to 30 November, 2032 are closing. At the same time, Tallinn Water has applied for its appointment as a water undertaker in the main service area of a public water supply and wastewater system with a term of administrative duty for 10 years, that is until 30 November 2032.
The administrative agreement currently awaits the resolution of the Tallinn Water Supervisory Council on the 1 November, 2022, and the approval of the Tallinn City Council on the 3 November, 2022 and can then be found published in the document management system of Tallinn City Government and on the website of Tallinn W ater. A little bit about Tallinn public water supply and sewage development plan. The preparation of that document for the next 12 years is also currently underway. The aim of that document is to set a direction for the development of water sector in Tallinn, and it will also be the framework for the preparation of the development and investment plan of Tallinn Water for next 12 years. The new prices for the water services in Tallinn are approved by the Competition Authority from 1 October, 2022.
In September, Tallinn Water and OP Corporate Bank plc Estonian Branch signed an amendment to the 28 September, 2017 loan agreement. As a result of the amendment to the loan agreement, the previous loan repayment date of 28 September, 2023 was changed to 28 September, 2024. The amendment to the loan agreement has included an increase in Tallinn Water average loan interest risk margin from 0.6% to 0.63%. The loan will still be repaid in one installment, and all other terms of the loan agreement remain the same. We constantly put in effort to improve our vital services. In the nine months of 2022, we carried out investments projects in the amount of EUR 15.66 million. In nine months of this year, we have reconstructed 17,000 meters of our networks.
Network renewals are ongoing on Järvevana and Rannamõisa roads, also on the street of Vana-Kalamaja. Our engineers will continue to deliver the plan for this year in the last part of fourth quarter as well. We also make constant investments into our water and wastewater treatment plants. A little bit about water treatment. We're installing ultraviolet equipment in various borehole pumping stations to create an additional microbiological treatment barrier. Also, we are modernizing the Rummu Street water pumping station. In the future, it will be possible to secondary chlorinate at that pumping station. If we speak about wastewater treatment, then it is good to say that modernization of a main pumping station shaft is in progress. We also do some reconstruction of the effluent outlet tower.
We have also completed a new point of reception for the sewage sludge from the septic trucks and have started preparations for replacement of one of the large pumps at the main pumping station. The pump replacement is scheduled for the first quarter of 2023. Our capital investments into the network ensure uninterrupted water and wastewater service and reliability of water supply to our customers also in the future. Now I will give an update on our operational performance during the third quarter. Tallinn Water and our team achieved a good operational results in the third quarter of 2022. The quality of drinking water in Tallinn was excellent, being 99.5% compliant with all requirements. We took a total of 2,426 water samples from customer taps within nine months in 2022.
Top-level tap water was ensured by an effective water treatment process, continuous preventive maintenance works in the water network, and investments made in recent years in the water pumping stations. In the fourth quarter, we plan to introduce a new technology for cleaning water pipes, which works using the crushed ice pressure wash method. Today, the technology is widely used in the United States and Japan, but still completely new to our region. Wastewater treated at the Paljassaare Wastewater Treatment Plant also maintains a high level of quality, being again fully compliant with all the set requirements. The significantly lower indicators of pollutants are the proof of excellent quality of effluent discharge to the Baltic Sea. Our goal is to deliver high quality service to our customers, and within nine months, our customer satisfaction was very high. It was 4.3 of 3...
It was 4.3 out of 5, that shows that our customers are really satisfied with the service we provide to them. The leakage rate in the third quarter of 2022 was 13.4%, which is lower than the same period last year. In the nine months of 2022, the leakage rate was 16.25%. Higher leakage rate was mainly caused by extraordinary weather conditions in the first months of this year. Of course, the low soil water levels during the summer time impacted the performance of the network as well. We always try to disturb our customers as little as possible and do everything to supply our customers with the water services. In the first quarter, the average water interruption per property lasted 2 hours and 53 minutes, which is lower than in the comparative period last year.
In terms of engaging the reliability of water supply service to our customers, within the nine months we have reconstructed about 7 km of pipes. Now I will give it over to Taavi, who will go into details about our financial results. Thank you.
Thank you, Aleksandr, and welcome everyone joining us online. I would like to give you an overview of the financial performance of Tallinna Vesi in the third quarter of 2022. First of all, according to the latest economic forecast from SEB Pank, the outlook for the Estonian economy depends above all on the future rate of inflation. Estonia does have the highest inflation in the euro area, and the rise in production costs and the cost of living are putting notably heavier pressure on the resilience of the national economy. SEB Pank is forecasting that the inflation this year will be around 19%, mainly because of higher energy costs. Inflation is expected to fall close to 7% next year.
Rising energy prices have had an immediate result in the prices of many goods and services used by the company, and because of that, also direct impact on profit of the company. Compared to Q3 in 2021, the total sales revenues decreased slightly by 1%, amounting to EUR 13.5 million. The gross profit for the third quarter in 2022 was EUR 3.6 million, which was lower by 33% or EUR 1.8 million compared to the same period in 2021. The gross profit in Q3 2022 was mainly impacted by higher cost of goods and services sold, which was partly balanced by higher water services revenues.
In Q3 of 2022, the operating profit was EUR 2.4 million or EUR 3.1 million lower than in the same period in 2021. Mainly being impacted by changes in gross profit and freezing the change of provision for the possible third party claims in Q4 2021. In third quarter 2021, the reduction in the provision amounted to EUR 1.2 million. Compared to the third quarter in 2021, the net profit of the company was EUR 2.2 million or EUR 3.1 million lower. Being mainly impacted by mentioned changes in operating profit. On the next slide, I'll comment on the changes in revenues and expenses in more detail.
Total sales revenues, as mentioned, for the third quarter of 2022, decreased by 1% compared to previous year same period and amounted to EUR 13.5 million. The total revenues from water services were by 6% or EUR 0.3 million higher than in the third quarter of 2021, and amounted to EUR 11.9 million. The increase in water services revenues were mainly driven by higher commercial customers' consumption and some water treatments and disposal services revenues, and were partly set back by decrease in private customers' consumption. The private customer revenues in main service area decreased compared to the same period in 2021 by 1%, to EUR 4.1 million.
The commercial customers' revenues in main service areas increased compared to the same period in 2021 by 13% to EUR 4.3 million, driven fully by increase in consumption. The sales to commercial customers were impacted by higher consumption of hotels and spas, rental services, shopping and sports centers, and the port. Storm water and fire hydrant services revenues from the main service area were higher by 19%, amounting to EUR 1 million in Q3 2022, driven mainly by higher costs per cubic meter, related mostly to higher electricity costs. The revenues from construction services showed a decrease of 38% or EUR 0.8 m illion compared to the third quarter in 2021, and amounted to EUR 1.4 million.
Accordingly, were also down construction services costs, which decreased by 43% or EUR 0.8 million. Despite low revenues, construction services profits was at the same level, amounting to EUR 0.2 million because of better margin. The decrease in construction was mainly related to postponed procurements from public sector due to uncertainty in the markets and delay of the road construction projects. Moving on. This now takes us to the costs. The total costs of goods sold increased by 20% or EUR 1.7 million in Q3 of 2022, amounting to EUR 9.9 million. The total direct production cost increased by more than 2x or EUR 2.1 million, mostly due to higher electricity costs accompanied by an increase in chemical costs.
Electricity costs increased by more than 3x , mainly due to an average 211% higher electricity price. Chemical costs increased by 25%, driven by an average 31% higher price of methanol. Construction services costs, as mentioned, decreased by 43% to EUR 1.1 million and were related to lower construction service revenues mentioned earlier. Salary costs increased by 17% to EUR 1.9 million, and were mainly affected by salary increases of every staff member according to company salary policy and filling some previous vacancies. Administrative and marketing expenses increased by 17% to EUR 1.3 million, driven also by higher salary costs.
Other net income and expenses amounted to net loss of EUR 0.02 million compared to net income of EUR 1.09 million in comparative period, being mainly driven by freezing or change of provision of the possible third party claims mentioned earlier. Let's take a quick look also on the cash flows. As of September 30, 2022, the company's cash balance stood at EUR 16.7 million, forming 6.7% of total assets. Compared to the end of last quarter, the cash balance has decreased by EUR 6.9 million, mainly as a result of investments related cash flows. The biggest contribution to the cash flows comes from main operations.
During the nine months of 2022, total operating cash flow amounted to EUR 11.1 million, which however is EUR 5.6 million lower than in the comparative period of last year. The company's collection rate of receivables continues to be high, being 99.8% on average. The net cash flows from investing activities during the nine months of 2022 resulted in a cash outflow of EUR 13.5 million, which is EUR 5.9 million more than in the same period of last year. The company's financing cash outflows during the nine months of 2022 were EUR 17.6 million, being on the same level compared to the last year same period. With that part, I conclude the brief overview of the financials and give back to you, Maria.
Thank you both for the presentation. Now we will proceed with the questions, and we will give you some minutes to submit your questions here in chat box. Please feel free to type in any questions you might have. Thank you for the question. Now we will proceed with the questions that we have got from the chat box. The first question is from Sander Danil, and the question is: What portion of the increased tariffs effective from 1 October is reflecting the higher electricity cost? What happens when electricity price should come down significantly from the level when new tariffs were applied for? I think that Taavi Gröön is the right person to answer this.
Thanks for the question. In the tariffs applied from 1 October, the electricity pricing was based on average electricity price from May till July. If this tariff will be higher than the actual electricity costs, then the regulated price will also decrease. The new tariffs will be then approved and applied according to the same principles as in tariff regulations.
Sander continued his question: What is the level of WACC, the new tariffs correspond to? Taavi.
Yes. Thank you very much. The WACC used in the regulatory pricing is the same as the Competition Authority suggestion currently uses in the tariff regulation, and that is 5.45%. This is reflected in our existing pricing model and WACC in the last application, which primarily concerned electricity, was not changed.
Thank you. We will give you one more minute to type in your question. We have another question from Silver Tamm: Can you comment on your expectation for fourth quarter cost of sales? Are there any visible signs of deflation in chemicals, for example? We will proceed with answering the Silver's question, which was, "Can you comment on your expectation for fourth quarter cost of sales? Are there any visible signs of deflation in chemicals, for example?" Aleksandr will answer this question please.
Yeah. Thank you, Silver, very much for the question. If we speak about the fourth quarter and we speak about the sales, then we think that the consumption in the city of Tallinn is very stable. We are feeling that we are at the moment on the pre-COVID level with our sales. If we speak about the costs on the chemicals or any other stuff what we buy for our everyday operations, then we have long contracts where the prices are fixed. If we speak about the chemicals, then our contracts are fixed till the end of the first quarter 2023. Soon we'll come out with the new procurements what start to be valid from the 1 April, 2023.
Thank you, Aleksandr. Also we have new question from Sander. Is there a possibility to adjust the regulated WACC based on higher risk-free rates, Euribor or market premium? Taavi will answer this question.
The company itself does not have a preference or choice to adjust the regulated WACC rate. This adjustment depends on the decision by the Competition Authority. The short answer is right now, no.
Okay. We will give you one minute to type in any more questions, and then we will proceed with answers. The last question is, if taking the third quarter 2022 water consumption as a basis, ceteris paribus, how much your revenues and profits could increase in the fourth quarter just due to increased tariffs? This question will be answered by Taavi.
Thank you. At the moment, we would not like to make speculations on revenues and profits, but we can say that the assumption is that water consumption is stable in our main area, and that will also continue to be so.
Okay, thank you, Taavi. Last question, is there any signs that construction activities would recover in coming quarters? Alek will be answering this question.
Yeah. Thank you very much for the question. At the moment, if we speak about the construction, then, Watercom is quite busy. We are fully booked till the end of the year, so all our resources are on the construction sites. At the moment we have also some negotiations for the first quarter of 2023. I believe that Watercom will get enough job to do in the first quarter. Of course, some work what we could not finish during fourth quarter of 2022 will be postponed to January 2023.
Okay. It seems like we don't have now any more questions. The recording of the presentation will be available in the Tallinna Vesi YouTube channel webinar playlist shortly. The presentation materials and reports can be found on Tallinna Vesi webpage. Taavi Gröön and Aleksandr Timofejev, thank you for the overview, and thank you all for joining and have a good day.