Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Tuesday its group net profit for the six months through September plunged 41.0 percent from a year before to 107.98 billion yen due to rising fuel costs stemming from sharp rises in crude oil prices.
In its consolidated earnings report for the first half of fiscal 2005, Japan's biggest utility also said its operating profit fell 35.8 percent to 262.40 billion yen and pretax profit dropped 44.9 percent to 183.27 billion yen. Operating revenues edged up 0.9 percent to 2.55 trillion yen.
Per-share net profit came to 80.01 yen, down from 135.57 yen a year before.
During the six months, electricity demand was lower than the year earlier when demand for air conditioning rose due to an intense heat wave, Tepco said, noting the increase in fuel costs due to high oil prices outweighed its efforts to cut costs.
A reduction in electricity fees the company introduced in October 2004 cut its parent-only revenues, but the group's overall revenues posted a slight increase due to revenues at telecommunications firm PoweredCom Inc., which it made a subsidiary in the prior fiscal year, Tepco said.