EDF Energy sees 25% fall in UK profits

EDF Energy has reported a 25% fall in annual profits at its UK operations. The French-owned company said it made pre-tax profits of £649 million in the UK last year […]

EDF Energy has reported a 25% fall in annual profits at its UK operations.

The French-owned company said it made pre-tax profits of £649 million in the UK last year compared to £863 million in 2013, “reflecting challenging market conditions”.

The figure includes a one-off charge of £136 million relating to the fall in value of gas generating and storage assets, it added.

The Big Six firm’s earnings in Britain fell after it suffered unplanned outages at its Heysham 1 and Hartlepool nuclear power stations in the second quarter of 2014.

That resulted in a drop in nuclear output to 56.3TWh in 2014 but the company expects it to rise this year.

EDF Energy Chief Executive Vincent De Rivaz said: “Despite challenging market conditions, EDF Energy increased its investment in the UK. Customers will benefit from this long term approach with more low carbon electricity for the future. Our spending on research and development has underpinned our ability to safely extend the lives of our nuclear power stations.”

The supplier saw an increase in customer accounts last year – 194,000 more compared to the previous year while the group’s pre-tax profits rose 7.3% to €17.3 billion (£12.8bn).

Last month, EDF Energy announced a 1.3% cut in gas prices, which came into effect yesterday.

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