RWEOY Rwe Ag (PK)

By Monica Houston-Waesch

FRANKFURT--German power utility RWE AG's (RWE.XE) earnings fell by more than two thirds in the first half of the year partly on significant losses at its trading business in the second quarter, the company said on Thursday.

Net profit plunged to 457 million euro ($510.3 million) in the three months to end-June from EUR1.74 billion in the year earlier period. RWE's operating profit fell 7% to around EUR1.9 billion.

After a successfull start to the year, RWE's trading business suffered "significant unexpected losses in the second quarter," RWE said in a statement.

Electricity sales rose 4% in the first half from a year earlier, offset by a 7% decline in gas sales volumes. Group revenue fell to about EUR23.9 billion, from EUR24.8 billion in the first six months of 2015.

Adjusted net income rose 10% to EUR598 million, due to a low tax rate and a one-off effect of deferred taxes related to the group's restructuring. Operational improvement at RWE's conventional power generation and the one-off sale of property also supported earnings.

Net debt widened to EUR28.3 billion at the end of June, versus EUR25.5 billion at the end of December, due to negative free cash flow and additional pension provisions, given low interest rates.

RWE confirmed its full-year outlook, but said developments are likely to be worse than previously expected at its trading and gas division, and a bit better at its supply division. RWE still expects an operating result of between EUR2.8 billion and EUR3.1 billion for the year, and adjusted after-tax profit of EUR500 million to EUR700 million.

Write to Monica Houston-Waesch at nikki.houston@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 11, 2016 01:59 ET (05:59 GMT)

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