RWE sees better Q2 trading

LONDON (Reuters) - German utility RWE (RWEG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) has been "pleasantly surprised" by the results of its energy trading unit in the second quarter, an executive said on Wednesday, after declining profits from the unit led to an unexpected drop in first-quarter group earnings.

"So far, we are pretty pleasantly surprised," Peter Terium, head of RWE's RWE Supply & Trading unit, said at the Reuters Global Energy Summit in London, referring to earnings from his division in the second quarter.

"The first quarter was a bit below average, and the second is going to be better. Now we need to wait for what the rest of the year brings," he said, speaking from Berlin.

Operating results of RWE's trading division, one of the largest traders in power and gas in Europe, plummeted some 80 percent in the three months through March of this year.

They had risen fourfold to 592 million euros ($923 million) in 2007, contributing some 10 percent to the utility's 2007 operating result of 6.5 billion euros.

While RWE has always stressed the 2007 trading earnings were "extraordinary", a regular profit should also be possible this year, Terium said, despite the shortfall in the first quarter.

"I don't see any reason why the coming quarters will not be average," the chief said.

But it would be difficult to predict earnings for a longer period ahead, Terium added.

"I think specifically for our trading business it would be unwise to give outlooks."

(Reporting by Peter Dinkloh)