Energy prices may have jumped to unprecedented highs, but for France's state-controlled power company EDF 2022 was a miserable year with record annual losses of 17.9 billion euros, reports BBC News.
A price cap on energy for French consumers hit EDF profits hard but so did the enforced closure of many of its of nuclear power stations for repairs.
The losses are the third biggest in French corporate history and the worst for more than 20 years.
EDF's debts have spiralled to 64.5 billion euros.
On an underlying basis, EDF's losses came in at 4.99 billion euros. The figure was in marked contrast to EDF's UK-based business, which made an underlying profit of £1.12bn (1.26 billion euros) supplying electricity and gas to five million households.
In France, President Emmanuel Macron's government responded to Russia's invasion of Ukraine by imposing a tariff "shield" for consumers, limiting energy companies to a 4% rise in 2022 followed by 15% in 2023, keeping inflation lower than in other European countries.
But it meant that EDF had to sell power to French consumers at a loss, while UK consumers paid far more for their energy. EDF has around 80% of France's electricity market.
French industry has not seen such poor results since 2002, when Vivendi Universal and France Telecom both posted losses above 20 billion for the previous year.
EDF has never before reported such large losses.
"The 2022 results were significantly affected by the decline in our electricity output, and also by exceptional regulatory measures introduced in France in difficult market conditions," said chief executive Luc Rémont, who said EDF's priority was now to put the company back on track. He said core earnings would be significantly higher in 2023.
EDF's nuclear output in France fell by 30% to its lowest since 1988 as more than half of its 56 ageing nuclear power stations went offline for repairs, which had been delayed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. France has the biggest fleet of nuclear plants in Europe.