EDF hailed an "exceptional" year after its loss of 17.9 billion euros in 2022.

Sales slipped 2.6 percent to 139.7 billion euros, but the group managed to slice debt by 10 billion euros to 54.4 billion.

EDF said however that it had booked a 12.9 billion euro depreciation linked to difficulties at its Hinkley Point nuclear plant in Britain.

The charge includes 11.2 billion euros for Hinkley Point assets and 1.7 billion euros at its British subsidiary, EDF Energy, the group explained.

EDF announced last month a fresh delay and additional costs for the giant project hit by repeated cost overruns.

"The year was marked by many events, in particular by the recovery of production and the company's mobilisation around production recovery," CEO Luc Remont told reporters.

EDF put its strong showing down to a strong operational performance, notably a significant increase in nuclear generation in France at a time of historically high prices.

That followed a drop in nuclear output in France in 2022. The group had to deal with stress corrosion problems at some reactors while also facing government orders to limit price rises.

The French reactors last year produced around 320.4 TWh, in the upper range of expectations.

Nuclear production had slid back in 2022 to 279 TWh, its lowest level in three decades, because of the corrosion problems and maintenance changes after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hinkley Point C is one of a small number of European Pressurised Reactors (EPRs) worldwide, an EDF-led design that has been plagued by cost overruns running into billions of euros and years of construction delays.

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EDF - ELECTRICITE DE FRANCE