Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Tuesday its group net balance swung back into the black in the first three months of fiscal 2004, mainly because the restart of some of its nuclear power enabled it to cut large expenses for fossil fuel to run its thermal power plants.
In an earnings report for the April-June first quarter, Tepco said its net profit came to 54.17 billion yen in a turnaround from a loss of 8.58 billion yen incurred in the same period last year.
The pretax balance for the latest quarter also returned to the black, with 84.87 billion yen, against a loss of 10.25 billion yen a year earlier.
Operating revenues mainly from the sale of electric power rose 0.9 percent to 1.15 trillion yen during the first quarter, the nation's largest power utility said.
The utility said the cost of fossil fuel in the first three months of the current business year shrank by a steep 93.18 billion yen from a year earlier to 153.73 billion yen.
These huge savings helped the company offset a 37.04 billion yen increase in expenses it incurred in repairing its nuclear plants and conducting plant checkups, it said.