FRANKFURT -- French power firm Electricite de France SA said Friday its first-half net profit dropped 47% to 1.66 billion euros ($2.17 billion) from €3.12 billion, with the result hurt by a provision of €1.1 billion for the firm's North-American activities. Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires expected profit of €2.59 billion. Sales rose 7.7% to €37.51 billion from €34.83 billion. EDF also said it has received a €6.9 billion irrevocable offer from Cheung Kong Group for its U.K. electricity distribution networks. Cheung Kong Group is a consortium composed of Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Ltd, Hongkong Electric Holdings Ltd and the Li Ka-Shing Foundation.
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