By Nathan Allen 
 

Electricite de France SA (EDF.FR) said Friday that its earnings fell more than 60% in 2018, undershooting analysts' expectations.

The state-controlled French utility said net profit for the year was 1.18 billion euros ($1.33 billion) compared with EUR3.17 billion a year earlier.

In 2017 EDF sold off around EUR6.2 billion of assets, which drove up earnings for that year.

Sales climbed to EUR68.98 billion from a restated figure of EUR64.89 billion, the company said.

Analysts had forecast net profit of EUR2.19 billion on sales of EUR69.81 billion, according to a consensus compiled by FactSet.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose to EUR15.27 billion from EUR13.74 billion, the company said, meeting its guidance for between EUR14.8 billion and EUR15.3 billion.

For 2019, EDF said it expects to generate Ebitda in the range of EUR15.3 billion to EUR16 billion and to sell off between EUR2 billion and EUR3 billion of assets.

The group cut its dividend to EUR0.31 a share from EUR0.46 a share in 2017.

Write to Nathan Allen at nathan.allen@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 15, 2019 01:53 ET (06:53 GMT)