UPDATE 2-Hinkley Point potentially risky for EDF – French audit body
www.reuters.com/Markets, Geert De Clercq, editing by Andrew Callus and David Evans, Mar 10 2016
- Auditor warns EDF would be responsible for cost overruns
- Complex Hinkley Point deal raises “serious questions”
- Warning comes days after CFO resigns over Hinkley
- Questions EDF’s ability to renew its energy mix (Adds share price fall, criticism of focus on nuclear)
PARIS, March 10 EDF’s project to build nuclear reactors in Britain is potentially risky for the state-owned utility, whose foreign investments in recent years have been disappointing, France’s top public auditor said on Thursday. In a report on EDF’s international strategy, the Cour des Comptes said EDF and its 85 percent state shareholder should take a close look at the risks associated with EDF’s 18 billion pound (23 billion euro) project to build two nuclear reactors in Hinkley Point, Britain. The report, which focuses on the 2009-2014 period – which includes EDF’s Oct. 2013 agreement with the British government but not its Oct. 2015 deal with Chinese utility CGN to take a one-third stake – said the financing around the Hinkley Point deal was potentially risky for EDF.
