By Mauro Orru and Giulia Petroni


Electricite de France SA said Thursday that it expects a deeper hit to its core earnings this year due to lower nuclear output in France as Europe struggles to contain an energy crisis unleashed by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The French power utility sees a hit of roughly 29 billion euros ($28.94 billion) to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization in 2022 from a previous forecast of around EUR24 billion at the end of July.

Nuclear output is expected at the lower end of a 280 terawatt hour to 300 terawatt hour range this year, the company said.

For 2023, the output is confirmed in a range of between 300TWh to 330TWh.

EDF said it would review its group targets for next year after the French government on Wednesday said it will cap power and gas price increases at 15% for households and small companies in 2023.

The utility, France's nuclear-power provider, has been struggling under a huge debt load after hemorrhaging cash for years, and is now in the process of being fully nationalized.

This year, power generation at its nuclear fleet has fallen significantly partly due to corrosion issues, and the company has had to halt a number of reactors for inspections and repairs.


Write to Mauro Orru at mauro.orru@wsj.com and Giulia Petroni at giulia.petroni@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

09-15-22 0544ET