Swedish utility Vattenfall has reported a net operating loss of Skr2.61bn ($233.5m) for the third quarter (Q3) of 2023. This compares with an operating profit of Skr12.19bn in Q3 2022.

Net sales for the period were Skr58.3bn, an increase of 9.9% from Skr53bn in the previous year.

The operating profit before depreciation, amortisation and impairment losses for the quarter stood at Skr2.6bn, a year-on-year drop of 83.8% from the previous Skr16.3bn.

Underlying earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) for the period were Skr946m, down 84.8% compared with Skr6.2bn in the third quarter of 2022.

Power generation during the third quarter fell by 20.7% to 19.9 terawatt-hours (TWh) from 25.1TWh a year previously.

Prices of electricity in the company’s markets fell by nearly 60% during the first nine months of 2023 compared with the corresponding period of 2022.

Vattenfall stated: "Profit for the period was in addition to the impact from lower electricity prices also negatively affected by valuation of electricity and fuel contracts, where we, on the contrary, had a large positive impact last year.”

For the first nine months of 2023, the company recorded net sales of Skr216.8bn, a jump of 34.8% compared with Skr160.8bn ($14.4bn) in the same period of 2022.

Vattenfall president and CEO Anna Borg stated: “We report a higher contribution from both the heat and customer business. More customers are choosing Vattenfall and we are glad to see that the majority of them are opting for fossil-free electricity contracts.

“However, earnings were mainly affected by lower electricity prices and by lower generation from hydro and nuclear power.”