Eletrobras to Cut Investments by 17.3%

Brazil's state-run power company Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA said on Friday it plans to invest 50.3 billion reais from 2015 to 2019, a 17.3 percent reduction from its previous five-year investment plan.

Eletrobras, as the company is known, plans to invest 34.8 billion reais of the total to expand its power plants and transmission lines, it said in a filing to the local market regulator.

Maintenance for generation, transmission and distribution assets should consume more 11.3 billion reais over the five years through 2019, while the company also projected to invest 2.5 billion reais to expand its power distribution business.

The company said total investments in 2014 reached 11.4 billion reais, corresponding to 78 percent of the amount initially planned for that year.

Eletrobras this week was included in the large Lava Jato, or "Operation Car Wash," corruption investigation in Brazil when police arrested two executives involved in building a nuclear power plant for its subsidiary Eletronuclear.

The state-run utility hired earlier this year law firm Hogan Lovells to investigate possible wrongdoings in the company. Hogan Lovells is expected to wrap up its probe in October.

(Reporting by Marcelo Teixeira)