Fortum Reports Quarterly Profit Surge
Finland's Fortum missed analyst expectations despite reporting a 59% jump in its comparable operating profit for the third quarter on Thursday, saying electricity price hedging and higher hydro and nuclear volumes had helped it achieve the rise.The firm's shares fell almost 2% after third-quarter operating profit came in at 153 million euros ($170 million) compared to forecasts for 164 million euros, based on the company's consensus of analysts.Sales stood at 1.06 billion euros, up 9.2% on the same period a year ago and roughly in line with analysts' expectations of 1.04 billion euros.Fortum…
Fortum Eyes More M&A With Unspent Uniper Cash
Finland's Fortum, which failed last month in its bid to win majority control of Germany's Uniper, is now considering other acquisitions, Chief Executive Pekka Lundmark said on Thursday. After selling its distribution networks in 2015, state-controlled Fortum was left with about 10 billion euros in cash, much of which the company has said it could use for acquisitions. Fortum received only a 47-percent stake in Uniper after bidding 8.05 billion euros ($9.80 billion) for a 100-percent stake.
Uniper says Fortum Bid Not Welcome, Not in Discussions
German energy company Uniper , whose biggest shareholder is E.ON, on Wednesday said it had not invited a bid by Finnish state-controlled peer Fortum. "This unsolicited takeover offer is clearly not in line with the strategy of Uniper as recently reiterated publicly," Uniper chief executive Klaus Schaefer said in a statement. Uniper said it was not in discussions with Fortum or E.ON about the matter. Separately, Fortum CEO Pekka Lundmark in a call with reporters said the move was "not a takeover but an investment." Reporting by Vera Eckert
