German gas, electric and water utility E.ON saw its net profit fall 22% in the second quarter as it faced weak demand for power in Europe and increased competition from subsidised renewable energy.
The company said its net income came to €919m, down from €1.18 billion the same time a year ago.
Despite the fall in profit, chief executive Johannes Teyssen reaffirmed the company's earnings forecast for the year of €9.2-9.8 billion after financial items such as interest, taxes and depreciation.
But he also said that the regulatory and business environment for the company's legacy power generation business was tough and that "no recovery is in sight."
Last month E.ON said it was mothballing a two year year old gas-fired plant in Malzenice in Slovakia because it was unprofitable and Teyssen said unless things change more shutdowns were "unavoidable."
The company said its first-half operating earnings excluding financial items fell 15% to €5.7 billion, but exceeded analyst estimates for €5.67 billion.
