E.ON, RWE Shares Boosted by German Court Ruling on Nuclear Fuel Tax

Germany's highest court effectively rolled back a tax on nuclear energy Wednesday, deeming the fees the government has collected from utility companies as unconstitutional and "void."

The government has collected around 4.6 billion euros ($5.2 billion) from E.ON SE and RWE AG since the 2011 imposition of the tax.

E.ON shares traded up 4.2% at midday, following the court's ruling, and RWE shares were are up 4%.

Both companies said they expect to be reimbursed, with interest, and would decide how to use the funds at a later date. RWE said the funds would be booked as a one-off non-operating result and wouldn't affect its forecasts for adjusted profit.

E.ON said it expected a one-time boost of around EUR3.3 billion, including interest, from the ruling and confirmed its full-year guidance for adjusted profit.

In 2016, utilities companies and the German government came to an agreement on funding the costs of nuclear waste storage that required firms to pay around EUR24 billion into a public fund in exchange for transferring liability for the waste to the government. The nuclear fuel tax remained a point of contention.

-Write to Monica Houston-Waesch at nikki.houston@wsj.com and Ulrike Dauer at ulrike.dauer@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 07, 2017 05:59 ET (09:59 GMT)