OREANDA-NEWS. E.ON continues to expect full-year 2014 EBITDA of €8 to €8.6 billion and underlying net income of €1.5 to €1.9 billion. CEO Johannes Teyssen and CEO Klaus Schäfer affirmed the forecast today at the company's press conference to announce its half-year results. As anticipated, E.ON's half-year earnings figures were below the prior-year level: EBITDA declined from €5.7 to €5 billion, underlying net income from €1.9 to €1.5 billion. The decline in EBITDA is almost entirely attributable to changes in E.ON's portfolio and adverse currency-translation effects in numerous European markets and in Russia.

The Exploration & Production segment posted a sharp increase in EBITDA on higher production at its fields in the North Sea. Renewables, which delivered EBITDA of about €0.9 billion, are an important contributor to E.ON's earnings. Since 2007 E.ON has invested about €9.5 billion in renewables and installed about 4.8 gigawatts of wind and solar capacity worldwide. Two large wind farms in the North Sea-Amrumbank West (288 megawatts) and Humber Gateway (219 megawatts)-will enter service next year, as will Grandview 1, a large onshore wind farm (211 megawatts) E.ON is building in Texas.

Johannes Teyssen said: “Our half-year earnings were in line with our forecast and-considering the difficult situation. So on balance E.ON performed rather well in a difficult environment." Teyssen also emphasized the success of the company's retail business in Germany: “I'm particularly pleased that in the second quarter we again added new residential customers. In the first half of the year E.ON gained a new customer every eight minutes on a net basis."

Klaus Schäfer said: “In the first half of the year E.ON reduced its economic net debt by about €2.5 billion to €29.7 billion. Our net financial position also improved substantially and, at €-7.1 billion, was again in the single-digit billion range. We're particularly pleased by the successful introduction of a dividend option this spring. The positive response and high participation rate demonstrate our shareholders' trust in their company."