Vattenfall's wind unit posts 43% y/y fall in 9-mo underlying op profit

The wind power segment of Swedish energy group Vattenfall AB saw its nine-month underlying operating profit drop to SEK 480 million (USD 54m/EUR 49.3m) from SEK 842 million a year back.

The company blamed the fall on lower production revenue, higher depreciation relating to the commissioning of new wind parks, and to higher project planning and repair costs. Underlying operating profit before depreciation, amortisation and impairment losses declined to SEK 2.92 billion from SEK 3.13 billion.

Net sales for January-September 2016 went down to SEK 4.52 billion from SEK 4.61 billion mainly due to lower prices received and less favourable wind conditions. Wind power production for the nine-month period increased to 3.9 TWh from 3.8 TWh, mainly as a result of the commissioning of new wind farms.

In the third quarter (Q3) alone, the company turned to an underlying operating loss of SEK 117 million from a profit of SEK 88 million a year earlier. Excluding depreciation, amortisation and impairment losses, the underlying operating result was a profit of SEK 697 million, down from SEK 887 million in July-September 2015.

Third-quarter net sales declined to SEK 1.26 billion from SEK 1.39 billion.

(SEK 1.0 = USD 0.112/EUR 0.102)

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