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)