EON says profits down in first quarter

E.ON, Germany's biggest power supplier, said Thursday that profits were down in the first three months of the current year, as a result of low electricity wholesale prices and difficulties in its fossil fuel activities.

E.ON said in a statement that its net profit fell by 15 percent to 1.007 billion euros ($1.14 billion) in the period from January to March, in line with expectations.

Underlying or operating profit was down 9.0 percent at 2.83 billion euros, while sales slipped 2.0 percent to 30.55 billion euros.

Looking ahead, chief financial officer Klaus Schaefer said E.ON "continues to expect our full-year 2015 operating profit to be between 7.0-7.6 billion euros and net profit to be between 1.4-1.8 billion euros.

"The negative trend in oil prices and exchange rates slowed in the first quarter, but we continue to anticipate adverse factors as the year moves forward. By contrast, we expect our business in Germany to improve for the year as a whole," Schaefer said.

"We already know that 2015 won't be easy," said chief executive Johannes Teyssen.