(LEAD) KEPCO Q3 net plunges 78 pct on higher fuel costs - Yonhap News Agency

SEOUL, Nov. 12 (Yonhap) -- The state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) said Thursday its third-quarter net profit plunged 78 percent from a year earlier due to higher fuel costs.

Net profit for the three months ended in September fell to 835.89 billion won from 3.79 trillion won in the same period last year, the company said in a press release.

"Electricity sales declined, while global thermal coal prices continued to rise in the third quarter, weighing on our bottom line, among other factors," a company spokesperson said.

Combined fuel costs for KEPCO's power-generating subsidiaries, including Korea South-East Power Co., exceeded 2.2 trillion won in the third quarter, weighing on earnings, the company said.

Operating profit plunged 70.9 percent to 1.64 trillion won from 5.65 trillion won during the same period, while sales fell 2.6 percent to 26.85 trillion won from 27.57 trillion won.

KEPCO said it would closely monitor volatile energy prices while maintaining an emergency management system focused on improving its financial position through cost reductions and profitability-driven operations.

The company has been operating under an emergency management system since Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, as rising fuel prices drove up its debt and interest payment expenses.

For the first nine months of the year, net profit fell 50.4 percent to 3.63 trillion won from 7.33 trillion won in the year-ago period.

Operating profit declined 43.2 percent on-year to 6.56 trillion won, while sales decreased 0.8 percent to 73.17 trillion won.

The headquarters of Korea Electric Power Corp. in Naju, about 320 kilometers south of Seoul (Yonhap)