E.ON UK’s H1 supply profits fall while generation earnings grow

The UK arm of German energy giant E.On posted mixed financial results Wednesday with supply earnings falling following low weather-linked demand while the generation side of the business saw profits climb 30 per cent.

In the company’s H1 financial report E.ON UK chief executive Tony Cocker said the company saw a £422 million decrease in supply sales over the first half of the year compared to H1 2013 when cold wintry weather extended well into the spring months.

The lower sales this year led to an earnings fall of £85 million to £188 million for the supply business over the period, he said.

Lower sales were also seen on the generation side of the business, falling from £955 million in the first half of last year to £863 million in H1 2014.

However, earnings from the generation business grew from £159 million to £208 million year on year due to what Cocker described as “increased production in our upstream oil and gas activities”.

Higher earnings for the generator stand in contrast to the lower levels of investment seen on this side of the business, with total investment falling from £281 million last year to £226 million in H1 2014.

Meanwhile, on the supply side of the business investment increased from £29 million in H1 2013 to £33 million in the first half this year.

“This boost in investment has predominantly been in smart meter installations,” Cocker said.

“We’ve now installed more than 330,000 meters in our customers’ homes, which will help them control their energy use. We’ve also further enhanced the level of our customer service through a wide range of programmes including upgrading our IT systems in order to provide our colleagues with the best available technology to support our customers,” he added.