• EBIT excluding nuclear fell 9.4% vs a year earlier
• Higher gas distribution failed to offset lower energy sales prices
• Engie to pursue existing projects in US, but more cautious on new FIDs, CEO says

PARIS, Aug 1 - French utility Engie (ENGIE.PA) , opens new tab posted a 9.4% fall in half-year earnings on Friday, as higher income from natural gas distribution failed to offset lower energy prices and hydropower production.

Europe's largest gas network operator said first-half earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), excluding nuclear, came to 5.1 billion euros ($5.82 billion), compared to 5.6 billion euros a year earlier.

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"These results are solid in normalising market conditions and in an uncertain economic and geopolitical context," said CEO Catherine MacGregor.

Engie said last month that a colder 2025 had resulted in an increase of 6.5 terawatt-hours (TWh) of gas distributed versus the prior year.

However, that was tempered by a 2.1 TWh drop in French hydropower production due to less rain, and a 2.2 TWh drop in nuclear production, after Belgium permanently retired Engie's Doel 1 nuclear plant in February and took the Tihange 3 plant offline in April for life-extension upgrades.

Engie has sought in recent years to exit the nuclear business, refocus on its core natural gas holdings and reinvest the profits into renewables.

The lower rainfall affected profit at the group's renewables and flexible power unit, which includes batteries and gas-fired power plants as well as hydropower plants, with EBIT down 13.4% to 1.98 billion euros in the first half.

Engie said it continues to invest in new projects, and is moving ahead with three wind and solar projects that have already received a final investment decision in the United States, after President Donald Trump signed the annual U.S. budget into law.

"Our clients and counterparties in the U.S. have adapted to the new market reality, notably by adding contractual clauses that better share residual risks, which will allow us to proceed with these three projects with confidence in the coming weeks and months," MacGregor told journalists on a call.

U.S. projects at earlier stages are being treated more cautiously, however, as certain green tax credits under the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act have been rolled back, increasing costs, she said.

($1 = 0.8757 euros)

https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/engie-first-half-profit-falls-lower-gas-price-2025-08-01/