[R]8:00PM - British Energy’s net income in the nine months ended December 31st advanced to £383 million from £360 million in the year-ago comparable period.[/R]

Quarterly Earnings Review

British Energy reported third quarter net income in the three months to December 31st declined to £140 million from £171 million in the comparable period a year ago due to unscheduled losses at the nuclear power plants at Hartlepool and Heysham 1.

In the quarter, the company’s generation from power plants gained 24% year-on-year to 15 TWh.

Nine-Month Earnings Review

The power utility reported that revenues in the nine months ended December 31st advanced to £2.15 billion from £2.11 billion yen in the same period a year ago as nuclear power output increased to 39.5 TWh from 38.9 TWh in the year-ago period.

In the nine-month period, net income grew to £383 million from £360 million a year earlier. Earnings per share also climbed to £26.4 from £27.1% in the year-ago period.

EBITDA in the period under review fell from £775 a year ago to £745 million.

Furthermore, an additional dividend of £14.5 per share was declared.

Power Output

British Energy’s total output from its nuclear plants increased to 39.5 TWh from 38.9 TWh that was reported for the same period last year, with 31.8 TWh coming from AGRS and 7.7 TWh from PWR.

Coal output from Eggborough rose to 6.2 TWh from 5.1 TWh realised in the year ago period.

The realised price over the nine months period jumped from £40.8/MWh to £40.2/MWh

Nuclear Operations

Although power output in the nuclear sector increased to 39.5 TWh in the nine-month period from 38.9 TWh last year, performance was mainly dominated by big losses at Hunterston B, Hinkley Point B, Hartlepool and Heysham 1 as a fault developed at a legacy wire winding unit.

Unplanned nuclear losses resultantly rose to 15.4 TWh from 13.9 TWh last year.

British Energy also reviewed upwards its investments in inspection and engineering for Hartlepool and Heysham 1 to £70 million.

In the period, unplanned auto trips fell to 5 from 8 in the comparative period last year.

The load at Hinkley Point B and Hanterston B increased from 60% in the same period a year ago to an average 62%. The company plans to increase the load to 70% in the phased process in the next fiscal year.

In addition, the two plants had a five-year lifetime extension to 2016.