German power supplier Eon has reported a hefty loss for the first nine months of the year as major write-downs on power stations keep weighing on the firm. The company will be split up by the end of 2015.
Germany’s largest energy producer, Eon, on Wednesday reported a record loss of almost 5.7 billion euros ($6.1 billion) for the January to September period.
The news came on the back of the company’s massive write-downs on its gas and coal-fired power stations, which the firm said had become unprofitable because of rapidly sinking prices at the electricity exchange.
Caused by an ongoing boom of energy generated from renewable sources, conventional power stations keep being driven out of the domestic market, with prices at the Leipzig Electricity Exchange (EEX) having been cut by half over the past four years.
Restructuring in progress
Eon already booked a bottom-line loss of 3.2 billion euros last year, but said Wednesday it would be able to look at an operating profit of between 7 and 7.6 billion euros for the whole of 2015.
The Düsseldorf-based company is working feverishly to complete a planned split-up into two entities called Eon and Uniper. The latter will take over the firm’s big power station business, while Eon is to focus on renewable energy projects.
“We’re on the finishing straight, concerning the operative separation of our current activities,” Eon said in a statement.
hg/pad (Reuters, dpa)
