EDF swings to profit on back of high electricity prices but notes £11bn Hinkley hit
French nuclear power giant EDF swung to profit in 2023, despite booking a large impairment on the struggling Hinkley Point C project.
The group’s net income totalled €10bn (£8.6bn), up by nearly €28bn, as it rebounded from record annual losses in 2022, off the back of historically high electricity prices.
Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) also swung into the green, rising to €39.92bn from a loss of nearly €5bn in 2022.
Luc Rémont, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of EDF, said: “2023 marks the return of the company’s operational performance at a better level, after a year of industrial difficulties and exceptional regulation unfavourable effects in 2022.
“With these good results, EDF has met its financial targets and reduced its financial debt.”
But the Paris-headquartered company noted a €12.9bn (£11.05bn) impairment on Hinkley Point C assets, as it struggled with a series of setbacks on the project.
EDF has revised its estimate for the cost of completing the project upward, to between £31 and £34bn.
The french state-owned utility said power generation from the new Unit 1 reactor was expected to start anywhere between 2029 and 2031. Should it begin at the latter end of the forecast, the company said it would expect an additional cost of £1bn.