Swedish state-owned energy group Vattenfall on Thursday reported that net profits were halved in first-quarter 2010, while sales increased, according to dpa. Net profit, excluding items affecting comparability, declined 53 per cent to 3.78 billion kronor (518 million dollars) year-on-year. Factors that impacted the net profit included lower operating profits, higher interest expenses and higher taxes, the group said. First-quarter turnover increased by 34 per cent to 70.6 billion kronor, Vattenfall said, adding that some 15 billion kronor was attributed to the consolidation of Dutch group Nuon since July. New chief executive Oystein Loseth commented that it was "a good underlying result for the first quarter of 2010, despite difficult market conditions with continued low industrial demand for electricity." Loseth - who earlier this month succeeded Lars G Josefsson - added that the group would have to improve profitability to meet required rate of return. Vattenfall's electricity production increased 5.3 per cent in the quarter, partly due to the acquisition of Nuon. Production from hydropower was flat, while wind power increased slightly as did fossil-based production. Nuclear power production decreased by a fifth. Vattenfall's central Europe business was affected by the standstill of the Brunsbuettel and Kruemmel nuclear plants in Germany, which have been off-line since June 2007. Costs for the standstill in the quarter were estimated at 100 million euros. With the acquisition of Nuon, the group added some 5,800 employees to its headcount that at the end of March numbered some 38,900 employees. Vattenfall has operations in the Nordic region, Germany, Poland and the Benelux region.
