RWE back in the black in 2nd quarter

FRANKFURT - Agence France-Presse

RWE, Germany’s second biggest power supplier, said yesterday it was back in profit in the second quarter, but it would cut 2,400 jobs to boost its competitiveness.

RWE said in a statement it booked net profit of 273 million euros ($337 million) in the period from April to June, compared with a loss of 229 million euros a year earlier. That meant that net profit for the first half was little changed at 1.584 billion euros compared with a year earlier.

Revenues were more or less unchanged, too, slipping by 1.8 percent to 11.497 billion euros in the second quarter and by 1.3 percent to 27.09 billion euros in the first half.

German power suppliers had been hard hit last year by a decision by the German government to phase out nuclear power in the wake of the Fukushima disaster in Japan. Utilities were forced to shut down their profitable large-scale power plants and also pay a tax on the reactors’ fuel for their remaining lifespan.