FRANKFURT, Aug 9 Reuters E.ON, Europe39;s biggest operator of energy networks, on Wednesday said the market environment for its business was improving significantly following last year39;s energy crisis, sounding a more optimistic tone about the months ahead.

The company, which already last month reported preliminary results and a higher outlook for 2023, also said it raised investments by more than a third to 2.4 billion euros 2.6 billion in the first half.

After a long period of crisis, we sense that the headwinds for our business are diminishing. We see our markets increasingly recover, Chief Executive Leonhard Birnbaum said.

He said that E.ON would pass on lower power and gas costs to millions of its customers, which will weigh on profits but comes in response wholesale prices bouncing back from record levels seen last year after Russia cut gas deliveries to Germany.

E.ON, which intends to invest 33 billion euros in the 20232027 period, confirmed its outlook for the current year, still expecting adjusted core profit EBITDA of 8.6 billion to 8.8 billion euros.

1 0.9122 euros

Reporting by Christoph Steitz, Editing by Friederike Heine

Source Reuters