London (Platts)--9Nov2012/730 am EST/1230 GMT

German utility EnBW said Friday it made a net profit of Eur565.6 million ($719 million) in the first nine months of the year, compared with a net loss of Eur552 million a year earlier, when earnings were hit by the government's decision to close two of its four nuclear reactors.

The company said in its earnings statement that revenue for the first three quarters was up 4.4% to Eur14.36 billion as gains in the electricity grid and sales segment more than offset a drop in the electricity generation and trading segment.

However, the EBITDA was down 2% at Eur1.93 billion for the first nine months, it said.

"In light of the structural challenges and the much more difficult market environment, business development of the EnBW group in the first nine months of 2012 was in line with our expectations," CFO Thomas Kusterer said. "Falling prices on the wholesale markets continue to weigh on earnings.

By contrast, the increase in network user charges and higher revenue from renewable energies has had a positive effect, due to a higher output of electricity generated by hydro-electric and wind power," he added.

Electricity sales dropped 13% to 101.7 TWh during the period, while gas sales were up 20.6% to 46.2 TWh, it said.

Karslruhe-based EnBW is Germany's third-largest power generator and was the most dependent on nuclear power before Chancellor Angela Merkel in March 2011 decided to reverse the extension of nuclear run-times and immediately close older reactors in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear accident and just weeks before a crucial state vote in EnBW's home state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, in which the Green Party emerged as the senior partner in a coalition government.

This in effect not only gave the anti-nuclear Green Party its first state premiership, but also votes in the supervisory board of the nuclear operator EnBW, after the previous government in 2010 bought back a 45% share in EnBW from French utility EDF for Eur4.7 billion.

EnBW now aims to double its renewable capacity to 6 GW by 2020 under new CEO Frank Mastiaux. The former head of E.ON's renewables unit officially took charge of the company on October 1 after E.ON and EnBW agreed a six-month waiting period following Mastiaux' appointment by the supervisory board in March 2012.

--Andreas Franke, andreas_franke@platts.com --Edited by Jonathan Dart, jonathan_dart@platts.com