Tokyo Electric Power Co. posted an 86.85 billion yen net profit in the fiscal first half of 2003, down 44 percent from a year earlier.

Tepco on Tuesday blamed the decline on the shutdown of its nuclear reactors. The cost of the shutdown for the full year to March 31 is likely to be 290 billion yen, up 50 billion yen from the August estimate, it said.

Revenue for the April-September period slid 2.1 percent to 2.4 trillion yen, dented by lower power consumption during the summer.

Tepco said power sales during the period were down 2.4 percent to 137.7 billion kilowatt hours, the first decrease in two years.

"We estimate that there was a negative impact of 20 billion yen on a pretax profit level due to the cool period between June and September," Tepco President Tsunehisa Katsumata said.

The mild weather also meant fewer people used their air conditioners during the summer, apparently helping the utility firm avert the power shortage it warned could occur in the Tokyo area.

Amid negative publicity over the closure of its nuclear power plants due to widespread coverups of safety violations, Tepco ran a campaign, including TV and radio commercials, urging the public to conserve electricity.

The shutdown of its nuclear reactors forced Tepco to rely heavily on thermal generators, driving up the utility's fuel costs, which exploded 45 percent to 462.25 billion yen.

The company's ongoing cost-cutting efforts, including changes in its pension plans, failed to make up for the blowout in the fuel costs.

Tepco said the negative impact of the nuclear shutdowns amounted to 170 billion yen during the six-month period. The figure for the full year is estimated to be 290 billion yen.

The company was forced to shut down all 17 of its reactors by mid-April after revelations last summer that its staff had falsified reactor safety documents for years.

Five reactors have since resumed operations.