Swedish utility Vattenfall posts 54% profit rise

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Swedish utility Vattenfall reported a 54% rise in second-quarter operating earnings on Friday as higher electricity prices across the Nordic region, Germany and the Netherlands boosted sales.

Underlying earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) at the state-owned energy group rose to 8.11 billion Swedish crowns ($792.41 million) from 5.26 billion crowns in the same quarter a year ago.

“At present, the big question is what the natural gas supply will look like in Europe this winter with rationing becoming an increasingly likely scenario,” Vattenfall Chief Executive Anna Borg said in a statement.

“The uncertainty has sent electricity prices to new record levels even as we are in the middle of the summer when prices are usually lower.”

($1 = 10.2346 Swedish crowns)

(Reporting by Niklas Pollard; Editing by Edmund Blair)