RT.com
14 Jan 2022, 17:43 GMT+10
The drop comes amid Paris? move to make Electricite de France sell more power at the lowest possible price
Shares in Electricite de France (EDF) have fallen by as much as 25%, marking the worst drop on record after French authorities backed a plan to force the multinational to sell more power at extreme discounts to protect consumers.
The drastic move, aimed at decreasing the costs for households, was announced by Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire in an interview with Le Parisien published on Thursday. EDF shares fell to €7.76 on the news, and were trading about 19% lower at €8.41 at 10:15am GMT.
The increase in electricity bills for small businesses and households will be capped at 4% this year, including €8 billion in tax cuts on electricity consumption, according to Le Maire, who highlighted that prices could rise by 35% from February without countermeasures.
The minister also said that EDF's European rivals are entitled by law to purchase 100 terawatt-hours of the giant's annual power output at a high discount on current market prices. The utilities will be given the opportunity to buy another 20 terawatt-hours at low prices.
The unprecedented measure, which still needs to be approved by the European Commission, could reportedly cost the utility, partly owned by the French state, €7.7 billion ($8.8 billion) at Thursday's market prices.
The mandatory price cuts, announced ahead of April's presidential election, come as Europe struggles with the worst supply crunch in history with energy prices across the continent surging to unprecedented levels.
Separately, France's biggest electricity supplier said late on Thursday that several of its nuclear power plants located in the country would be offline longer than projected due to repair works. The delays forced EDF to slash its output forecast from reactors by 8%.
EDF added that it can't know how bad the financial hit could be at this stage and this will depend on market prices for power, but it pledged to "consider appropriate measures to strengthen its balance sheet structure and any measure to protect its interests."
For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section
(RT.com)
Get a daily dose of Cambodian Times news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Cambodian Times.
More InformationPARIS, France: A strike by French air traffic controllers demanding improved working conditions caused significant disruptions during...
OMAHA, Nebraska: With Congress considering cuts totaling around US$1 trillion to Medicaid over the next decade, concerns are rising...
ROME, Italy: Quick thinking by emergency responders helped prevent greater devastation after a gas station explosion in southeastern...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: President Donald Trump is drawing praise from his core supporters after halting key arms shipments to Ukraine, a...
MOSCOW, Russia: This week, Russia became the first country to officially recognize the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan since...
CAIRO, Egypt: This week, both Hamas and Israel shared their views ahead of expected peace talks about a new U.S.-backed ceasefire plan....
MADRID, Spain: Liverpool footballer Diogo Jota and his younger brother, André Silva, have died in a car accident in Spain. Spanish...
(Photo credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images) Byron Buxton has solidified his status as a two-time All-Star for the Minnesota Twins....
(Photo credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images) The Orlando Magic are locking up cornerstone player Paolo Banchero, agreeing to a five-year,...
(Photo credit: David Reginek-Imagn Images) The struggling Washington Nationals flew into St. Louis with new leadership in both the...
(Photo credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images) The Atlanta Hawks officially welcomed Kristaps Porzingis on Monday while waiving forward...
(Photo credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images) Veteran guard Kyle Lowry, who spent parts of the last two seasons playing in his hometown...