EDF's 2016 Net Falls Short of Expectations
February 14 2017 - 1:21AM
Dow Jones News
By Inti Landauro
PARIS-- French state-controlled power utility Electricite de
France SA (EDF.FR) said Tuesday its net profit fell short of
expectations after a series of its nuclear reactors were halted for
several weeks.
EDF said its net profit in 2016 was 2.85 billion euros ($3.02
billion), lower than the EUR3.01 billion average expectation of 18
analysts polled by FactSet. The net profit in 2015 had plunged to
EUR1.19 billion after the company booked one-time costs worth 3.64
billion euros.
EDF said it met its target for earnings before interest, taxes,
depreciation and amortization for the year with a EUR16.4 billion
result. The figure was lower than the EUR17.60 billion in 2015. The
company's revenue fell 5.1% to EUR71.20 billion.
The former electricity monopoly, which has seen the opening up
of the energy market erode its revenue, was hurt last year when the
French nuclear regulator ordered the halting of a series of nuclear
reactors to carry out safety tests.
The company expects its profitability to slide further in 2017
with an EBITDA of between EUR13.7 billion and EUR14.3 billion.
The company expects its accounts to recover in 2018 thanks to
cost-cutting and asset sales.
EDF faces a series of ambitious investments including the
construction of a nuclear power plant in the U.K. and the
acquisition of a controlling stake in nuclear engineering firm
Areva NP.
-Write to Inti Landauro at inti.landauro@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 14, 2017 02:06 ET (07:06 GMT)
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