Low energy prices bite deep for RWE

German energy supplier RWE on Monday blamed heavy third-quarter losses on low energy prices, but insisted it could still meet its full-year target.

Net income attributable to shareholders was 446 million euros ($482 million) in the red between July and September, the group said, down from 193 million in profit over the same period in 2015.

RWE had already suffered a loss of more than 400 million euros in the second quarter.

Adjusted for special items, the group's net profit stood at 227 million euros between January and September -- a drop of 58 percent year-on-year.

"In view of the difficult conditions, above all in conventional electricity generation, we recorded respectable earnings in the first three quarters," chief financial officer Markus Krebber said in a statement.

But the group said it would meet its forecast of adjusted net profit between 500 million and 700 million for the whole year.

Like other German energy heavyweights, RWE has faced stiff headwinds in recent years as it struggles to adapt to a changing market.

Competition from subsidised renewable electricity has bitten deep, while the group must pay billions into a government fund to cover long-term storage of nuclear waste.

In October, it split off its renewable energy and grid activities into a new publicly-traded firm, Innogy, in the largest IPO in Germany since 2000.

RWE's Monday statement said it enjoyed "new room for manoeuvre through increased financial flexibility" since the flotation.

The new cash will let the group pay its 6.8-billion-euro share of the 23.6-billion nuclear waste fund "as quickly as possible," CFO Krebber said.