Eon posts £6.8bn profit – but earnings to slide as gas prices fall
European energy giant Eon is predicting a hefty downturn in profits during its fourth quarter of trading across its retail division.
In its nine-month update, the continent’s largest operator of energy networks revealed that easing gas prices compared to last year would be felt in the company’s coffers.
The company serves over five million customers in the UK through its domestic offering.
“In recent months, we have implemented price reductions for millions of our electricity and gas customers,” Eon finance chief Marc Spieker explained.
“We expect the passthrough of lower wholesale prices and other effects to have a significant negative impact on our earnings in the Customer Solutions business in the fourth quarter.”
Nevertheless, the company has posted a 27 per cent increase in pre-tax profits over nine months of trading to £6.8bn (€7.8bn).
Net earnings also rose 38 per cent to £2.5bn (€2.9bn).
Eon kept its outlook for the full year, expecting pre-tax profits of £7.5bn (€8.6bn) and £7.7bn (€8.8bn) and between £2.3bn (€2.7bn) and £2.5bn (€2.9bn).
Meanwhile, Eon also hiked its annual investment target £260m (€300m) to £5.3bn (€6.1bn)
This represents a rise of around 40 percent on a year by year basis – with Eon committing £2.6bn (€3bn) to boosting its network infrastructure over the past nine months.
It argues that expansion of distribution networks must be synchronised with the expansion of renewable energy
It has also called for the investment climate to be sustained for renewable projects.
Spieker said: “We are ready to increase our investments further in the coming years, provided there is an investment environment with a reasonable return. This is in line with our social responsibility to drive decarbonization in Europe and further accelerate the energy transition.”