The troubled French nuclear reactor builder Areva said Wednesday that it sharply narrowed its losses last year, thanks to an ongoing restructuring programme.
In the red for the sixth year in a row, Areva said it booked a bottom-line loss of 665 million euros ($700 million) in 2016, compared with a loss of 2.04 billion euros a year earlier.
In 2015, Areva had been compelled to make substantial provisions for restructuring and for additional losses on its EPR pressurised water reactor project in Finland.
"The group's environment remained very difficult in 2016, in particular with a sharp drop in uranium and enrichment prices and a slowdown in services," Areva said in a statement.
"It's far from satisfactory to be making a loss… but the group is turning itself around," finance chief Stephane Lhopiteau told a telephone news conference.
In addition to slashing 6,000 jobs, asset sales and one billion euros in cost-cutting by 2018, Areva is planning two capital increases of five billion euros in total, of which its majority shareholder, the French state, will shoulder 4.5 billion euros.
mpa/spm/ric
AREVA
Next generation of nuclear robots will go where none have gone before
The University of Manchester is to lead a consortium to build the next generation of robots that are more durable and perceptive for use in nuclear sites. The cost of cleaning up the UK's existing nuclear facilities has been estimated to be between 95 billion pounds and 219 billion pounds over the next 120 years or so. The harsh conditions within these facilities means that human access is highl … read more
