French nuclear energy giant Areva said Thursday it aims to return to profit this year after nearly erasing a massive loss incurred due massive depreciations tied to the Fukushima disaster.

Areva narrowed its loss to 99 million euros ($130 million) in 2012 from 2.5 billion in 2011.

The company posted an operating profit of 118 million euros, compared to an operating loss of 1.87 billion in 2011.

Areva believes it can return to a net profit in 2013.

"That's our hypothesis," said financial director Pierre Aubouin.

Chief executive Luc Oursel said the improvement was due to the restructuring plan it adopted in the wake of the Fukushima disaster in Japan, which hit demand for nuclear fuel and the construction of new power stations.

"Areva is ahead of schedule in executing its recovery plan..." which targets 1 billion euros in cost savings by the end of 2015, said Oursel.

The restructuring plan Action 2016 is 80 percent achieved, he added.

"In 2013, we are continuing to implement the Action 2016 plan to keep Areva's turnaround on track.

The company had earlier reported that sales rose by 5.3 percent in 2012 to 9.3 billion euros and that its order book was stable at 45.4 billion euros.

fpo/rl/jz

AREVA