Tokyo Electric Power Co. posted an 86.85 billion yen net profit in the fiscal first half of 2003, down 44 percent from a year earlier.

Tepco on Tuesday blamed the decline on the shutdown of its nuclear reactors. The cost of the shutdown for the full year to March 31 is likely to be 290 billion yen, up 50 billion yen from the August estimate, it said.

Revenue for the April-September period slid 2.1 percent to 2.4 trillion yen, dented by lower power consumption during the summer.