TEPCO, the world's biggest private electricity supplier, said Wednesday it expected to go into the red this year for the first time in nearly three decades after an earthquake shut down a nuclear plant.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. said net profit plunged 88 percent year-on-year in the first six months to 21.1 billion yen (185.21 million dollars).
The world's largest nuclear plant, operated by TEPCO northwest of Tokyo, has been shut since a July 16 earthquake that caused dozens of problems at the facility, including a fire and a radioactive leak.
UN nuclear inspectors found no safety risks at the plant, but the company has said it will be shut at least for the rest of the year.
TEPCO said it spent 175.1 billion yen on repairs and inspections in the first half and expected the figure to rise as high as 603.5 billion yen during the financial year.
In the first half, operating profit fell 21.3 percent to 268.3 billion yen.
But sales rose 2.8 percent year-on-year to 2.68 trillion yen as a hot summer drove up use of air conditioning and as industries stepped up activity.
The company said it expected to go into the red for the first time since the year to March 1980.
It revised its annual forecast to a net loss of 95 billion yen, compared with an earlier projection of a net profit of 65 billion yen.
Higher fuel oil prices are also expected to hit the company's financial figures, TEPCO said.
The company revised its operating profit forceast to 200 billion yen, down 20 percent from an earlier expectation of 250 billion yen.
The sales forecast was raised to 5.47 trillion yen from 5.445 trillion yen.
