Fortum in talks with Finnish government over liquidity | Photo credit: Shutterstock
STOCKHOLM, Aug 29 (Reuters) – Fortum, hard hit by Europe’s energy crisis, is in talks with the Finnish state to meet its cash needs until covered power contracts are completed. delivered and that the guarantees are released.
The Finnish utility company, whose main shareholder is the Finnish government, said in a statement on Monday that the talks were aimed at preparing the company for exceptional and continued price developments in the energy market.
Last week, electricity prices in the Nordic countries soared, due to dry weather and fears about gas supply in the European market.
Fortum also announced last week a quarterly loss of 7.4 billion euros and warned of future heavy losses linked to the gas activity of its German subsidiary Uniper. The company added that it may need to increase its cash reserves due to high electricity prices.
Fortum’s main exposure is to the 2023 Nordic System futures. Uniper is responsible for hedging its own collateral requirements.
Fortum said on Monday it also contacted regulators and authorities in the Nordic markets, asking them to take immediate action to stabilize the market.
“The failure of even a small market participant would be difficult to manage given the current extreme price levels and could lead to serious disruptions in the Nordic electricity system,” she said.
(Report Anna Ringstrom, French version Alizée Degorce, edited by Kate Entringer)