E.ON Receives Arbitration Decision in Dispute With Electrabel

E.ON SE (EOAN.XE) said late Thursday that an international court of arbitration had decided "almost entirely" in its favor in a long-running dispute with Electrabel SA, a Belgian subsidiary of Engie SA (ENGI.FR), regarding payment obligations related to a 2009 mutual-electricity supply agreement.

The arbitration court ruled that PreussenElektra GmbH, a subsidiary of E.ON, wasn't obliged to pay the Belgian nuclear tax to the amount of 321 million euros ($383 million), E.ON said.

The ruling will have a positive impact on consolidated net income, cashflow and economic net debt, the German utility company said, while earnings before interest and taxes, and adjusted net income will be largely unaffected.

Engie couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

In a regulatory filing from July, Engie said that E.ON, via PreussenElektra, had submitted an arbitration request to the ICC International Court of Arbitration in November 2014.

It said in the filing that E.ON was seeking the payment by Electrabel of a portion of the German nuclear contribution as well as the repayment of EUR199 million, plus interest, of the Belgian nuclear contribution made by E.ON.

Engie also said in September that Electrabel disputed these claims and had filed counterclaims, including the full payment of EUR120 million plus interest invoiced by Electrabel for the Belgian nuclear contribution, as well as repayment of EUR189 million plus interest for the German nuclear tax paid by Electrabel.

Engie also said in July that following a ruling by the German Federal Constitutional Court that the German nuclear tax was illegal, the court of arbitration had re-opened the case and that an award was expected to be handed down in the second half of 2017.

Write to Sonia Amaral Rohter at sonia.amaralrohter@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 29, 2017 07:50 ET (12:50 GMT)