Asset Value Rises See EDF Net Income Soar

French power utility EDF on Friday said net profits rose more than fourfold in 2019 to 5.2 billion euros ($5.6 billion) from 1.2 billion, lifted by asset values pushed higher by strong bond and equity markets

Paris, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Feb, 2020 ) :French power utility EDF on Friday said net profits rose more than fourfold in 2019 to 5.2 billion Euros ($5.6 billion) from 1.2 billion, lifted by asset values pushed higher by strong bond and equity markets.

Joining the global push towards renewables the firm is five years into a 45 billion euro investment programme to extend the life of some of its nuclear power plants while closing others over the next 15 years as France ramps down dependence on nuclear energy from some 70 percent currently to nearer 50.

Citing a strong performance from renewables, mainly state-owned EDF said earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) rose 12 percent to 16.7 billion euros in 2019, at the top end of its own forecast and beating analysts' expectations.

The firm's 2020 forecast is for ebitda of between 17.5 and 18 billion.

The showing came despite a falloff in nuclear power generation both in France and Britain as well as a slide in French hydropower production.