German energy giant E.ON posts record net loss

German energy giant E.ON announced Wednesday a record loss for the third quarter due to heavy writedowns in the value of its power plants.

Amid rock-bottom prices for wholesale electricity, the company based in the western city of Duesseldorf said it wrote down power generation assets by 8.3 billion euros ($8.9 billion) for the period July to September.

This led to a net loss of nearly 7.0 billion euros, the group said in statement.

“The impairment charges were triggered by the significant decline in commodity and energy prices, which is mainly a result of structural changes on global energy markets and on the regulatory framework,” chief financial officer Michael Sen said.

“Our operating environment remains very difficult.”

The third-quarter losses, despite a nearly 5.0-percent rise in turnover to 27 billion euros, left little doubt that E.ON will post heavy losses for the full year, probably even more than the 3.2 billion euros incurred last year.

The group said nevertheless that its operating profit (EBITDA) — in which writedowns are stripped out — would reach 7.0-7.6 billion euros. (AFP)