EDF swings back to profit despite taking £11bn hit at UK nuclear project

EDF has swung back to profit despite taking an £11billion hit at its UK nuclear project.

The French energy giant posted profits of £8.5billion for 2023, up from the record £15.3billion loss it notched up the year before.

This was despite spiralling costs and lengthy delays over the planned Hinkley Point C reactor in Somerset.

Announcing its annual results on Friday, the group revealed an £11billion write-down related to its British operations.

It comes as Hinkley, which would be Britain’s first reactor in more than two decades, continues to be plagued with ongoing setbacks. 

In a major blow, EDF warned last month that the new power station is likely to be delayed until 2029 or even 2031 and the price could reach £35billion. 

That compares with the initial budget of £18billion and a planned opening in 2025.

EDF said annual profits were lifted by sales to medium and large businesses, along with ‘robust performance’ in the nuclear generation business.

This week, British Gas owner Centrica revealed it benefited last year from being able to claw back money that it had lost during the energy crisis.

Adjusted operating profit in the business’s retail unit, namely British Gas, soared from £94million to £799million as a result of the cost recovery, results published on Thursday showed.

The group was one of several energy suppliers regulator Ofgem permitted to recover costs that they had racked up during the crisis.

However, Centrica’ annual adjusted pre-tax profit fell to £2.8billion, compared with £3.2billion the year before.

Centrica said commodity prices had been ‘significantly lower’ than the previous year when gas prices spiralled at the outbreak of the Ukraine war.