Statkraft posts net loss amid currency weakness, lower power prices
Updates with details on prices, production in paragraphs 6-9
By Nora Buli
OSLO, Nov 7 (Reuters) -Norwegian state-owned utility Statkraft, one of Europe's biggest renewable energy producers, on Thursday reported a net loss for the third quarter driven partly by a weaker Norwegian currency against the euro as well as lower power prices and output.
The group posted a net loss of 225 million Norwegian crowns ($20.41 million) for the July-September quarter, down from a profit of 4.47 billion a year earlier.
Statkraft booked a negative currency effect of 2.64 billion crowns, against a positive year-ago level of 1.64 billion, reflecting a change in value of the group's debt which is mostly denominated in euros.
The group's underlying earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) fell to 3.0 billion Norwegian crowns from 4.94 billion Norwegian crowns a year ago, due to lower power prices, weaker hydropower generation and hedging effects.
"Statkraft continues to deliver robust underlying results, despite lower prices and lower hydropower production in Norway," CEO Birgitte Ringstad Vartdal said in a statement.
The benchmark Nordic system power price averaged 19.40 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) in the third quarter, down 28% from 27.70 euros/MWh a year earlier, the report showed.
The fall in prices was due to a high water inflow, higher wind power production and high reservoir levels in southern Norway, as well as lower prices on the European continent, the company said.
Statkraft's third-quarter power generation increased to 13.3 terawatt hours (TWh) from 13.1 TWh a year earlier, driven by 1.7 TWh more wind power generation, while hydropower generation was down by 1.6 TWh.
Compared with other Nordic producers, Statkraft has a higher share of reservoir-based hydropower generation, allowing it to save water for production when prices are higher, Vartdal told reporters.
($1 = 11.0242 Norwegian crowns)
Reporting by Nora Buli, editing by Terje Solsvik and Jane Merriman
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