British Energy earnings nearly halved

By John Bowker

LONDON (Reuters) - Nuclear operator British Energy said on Wednesday lower output following nuclear power station outages cut its first quarter profit in half.

The group, whose shareholders rejected a 12 billion pound takeover bid by France's EDF this month, said first quarter adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell to 129 million pounds.

"We have continued to make good progress towards resolving the plant issues that have significantly impacted our performance in the year to date," Chief Executive Bill Coley told reporters.

He added that the Hartlepool and Heysham 1 stations were on track to return to service in the group's third quarter, although he would not put a return date on units at Dungeness B.

Shares in the company, 35 percent owned by the government, rose 0.9 percent to 711-1/2 pence by 8:51 a.m., valuing the business at 11.4 billion pounds.

The results were a lot better than some analysts expected. Deutsche Bank said in a preview note it was forecasting adjusted EBITDA of 55 million pounds, with performance to improve as high wholesale power prices feed into the numbers.

TALKS ONGOING

British Energy said it "continue(s) discussions in respect of a potential transaction" despite the collapse of the all-cash EDF offer nearly two weeks ago, but refused to comment on the specific details of the talks.