Powergen owner on the rise:
The owner of electricity supplier Powergen said yesterday that higher power prices had helped it ramp up sales as it stayed on course to hit its growth targets. Eon saw revenues grow 25pc to e49.5bn (£33bn) during the first nine months of the year thanks to what it termed “power and gas price developments”. The Powergen arm of Germany-based Eon generates, distributes and sells electricity to about six million residential, small business, industrial and commercial customers. It has a strong presence in East Anglia and incorporates the former Eastern Electricity. In August, Powergen increased gas prices by 18.4pc and electricity prices by 9.7pc. It blamed an 87pc increase in the cost of buying wholesale energy to sell on to its customers in the UK since the beginning of last year. Five months earlier, it had put up the price of gas by 24.4pc and electricity by 18.4pc. Eon, which is sponsoring this year's FA Cup competition, yesterday said a strong UK performance during the second and third quarters had helped counteract an earnings dip during the first three months of the year. It reported earnings before interest and tax at e710m (£475m) in the UK, compared with e715m (£479m) the year before. Meanwhile, group earnings before interest and tax increased by 10pc to e6.06bn (£4.06bn). Chief executive Wulf H Bernotat said: “Our solid earnings development for the first nine months demonstrates that we're on course to achieve our growth targets.” Eon has about 12,000 staff in the UK, with about 500 of them employed in Ipswich. As well as its gas and electricity supply business, it runs 11 power station sites. It also runs wind farms, including one at West Somerton, north of Yarmouth. Meanwhile, Eon yesterday said there had been “positive develop-ments” in its planned £20bn move for Spanish firm Endesa. Eon made an offer for Endesa, which has more than 20 million customers in Spain and Latin America, after failing to land Scottish Power with an £11bn bid last year. The company said it had been successful in its appeal against “far-reaching conditions” imposed by Spain's national energy commission when it approved the bid in July. Mr Bernotat said: “We now expect Spain's stock market regulator to move quickly to approve our offer. “We continue to be confident that we'll bring the transaction to a successful conclusion.” Scottish Power was back in the takeover spotlight yesterday after the energy supplier revealed it had received a bid approach. The Glasgow-based company, which has about five million customers, did not reveal the identity of the potential suitor, but the revelation was enough to lift its share price by 9pc to 733p - valuing the group at £10.9bn. 9.11.06