Npower profit increases as RWE records first loss in 60 years

Npower recorded a modest increase in profit despite its parent company recording its first net loss in more than 60 years.

The UK supply arm of the German energy company posted a profit of €290 million in 2013, up from €286 million in 2012 (up 1.4 per cent).

The report said “continued efficiency enhancements strengthened earnings power across all supply segments” and price increases “partly offset” additional costs.

The financial results said Npower spent more on measures to improve the energy efficiency of households under government obligations, plus higher network fees.

This modest growth came as parent company RWE recorded a net loss of €2.8 billion.

RWE said the loss was attributed to the €4.8 billion write down of its fleet of coal and gas fired power plants across Europe.

In the UK, RWE’s power plants posted an operating result loss of €76 million, down from a positive result of €194 million in 2012.

This loss comes a year after RWE made a £1,650 million investment in two new combined cycle gas turbine power stations.

RWE also said there is a “difficult earnings situation in conventional electricity generation in Europe” and electricity sales declined by 2 per cent.

The company’s saw the operating result from its conventional power division, RWE Generation, (which was created at the start of 2013), fall by 58 per cent on the previous year, down to €1.4 billion.

The company’s EBITDA fell by 6 per cent to €8.8 billion, while the operating result fell by 8 per cent to €5.9 billion for 2013.