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11,000 E.ON jobs axed in German nuclear shutdown
Business digest: Energy provider goes into red as Germany pushes ahead with controversial switch from nuclear
German energy company E.ON has announced that 11,000 people will lose their jobs as the company shuts down its reactors following Germany's decision to phase out nuclear power.
The country's biggest utility provider also reported that in the last quarter it had gone into the red by €1.49bn, its first quarterly loss in 10 years.
E.ON was hit by a €1.9bn charge for plant closures and a new tax on spent nuclear rods. The company also issued a profit warning for the next three years, and cut its dividend target by 23 per cent to €1 a share.
Five million of E.ON's UK customers will be hit by, on average, a 15 per cent rise in energy prices.
As a result of the Japanese nuclear disaster in March, Germany has decided to shut down its nuclear industry, which last year accounted for 23 per cent of its energy use. The move has proved controversial, as Germany relies on the energy-intensive manufacturing industry for 25 per cent of its economy, and there are doubts about the planned green alternatives.
Read a full report at the Guardian. ·
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This is a huge story. The eco-nuts in Germany are on track to wreck the one economy in Europe to which everyone else is looking for salvation.