Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s group net profit dropped 18.1 percent to 165.27 billion yen in fiscal 2002, with the increasing cost of fuel used to fire up thermal power generators weighing heavily on its earnings, the utility said Tuesday.
As the prospect of summer blackouts in the Tokyo area looms larger, with all but one of Tepco's 17 reactors currently dormant, the scandal-hit company said expenses related to the shutdown of its reactors are expected to nearly double in the current year.
Group operating profit dropped 20.9 percent to 521.41 billion yen.