Two EDF staff shareholder funds warn market watchdog over EDF situation

PARIS (Reuters) -The supervisory boards of two EDF staff shareholder funds said they had written to the head of France’s AMF stock market regulator to warn over the situation at the state-controlled utility, and to get clarification from the government about its plans for EDF.

Shares in EDF slumped as much as 25% on Jan. 17 after the government of President Emmanuel Macron – facing a re-election battle in three months and keen to head off public anger over rising power bills – ordered the utility to sell more cheap nuclear power to rivals.

The French state owns 84% of EDF’s shares.

The group forecast last week that the government decision would knock around 8 billion euros ($9.13 billion) off its 2022 core earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

The funds, in the letter, asked the AMF regulator to request that the state – as majority shareholder – clarifies its intentions towards the evolution of its equity stake in EDF and whether or not it could launch a public offer in the coming months.

(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon;Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)