EDF Energy's UK Annual Profits Fall 8.5%

EDF Energy, one of the so-called big six suppliers to households, has reported an 8.5% fall in annual profits at its UK operations.

The French-owned firm made a UK pre-tax profit of €1.94bn (£1.44bn) in the 12 months to 31 December.

It did not give a breakdown of its generation and supply businesses but said that the effects of a mild winter last year were offset by customer account growth of 194,000 and continuing cost savings on the supply side.

It said the profit performance, while assisted by favourable currency conversion, was hampered by the unplanned outages at the company's Heysham 1 and Hartlepool nuclear plants in the second half.

Generation was suspended at the reactors in August after the discovery of a crack on a component known as a boiler spine at Heysham 1, a part also used at Hartlepool.

Both plants are now back online and EDF (Paris: FR0010242511 - news) said it expected its nuclear output during 2015 to exceed that of 2014.

EDF also confirmed it was to make an investment decision this year on its £16bn project to build two new nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point but added that negotiations could yet take some months.

Chief executive Jean-Bernard Levy said talks with EDF's partners -- Chinese utilities CGN and CNNC and French nuclear group Areva -- and the British Government were continuing.

"We are in the final phase of negotiations, but that phase can take a considerable amount of time, depending on the number of problems left to resolve," he told reporters.

The group's pre-tax profits rose 7.3% to €17.3bn.