KEPCO suffers huge losses in Q3 on weaker won, high fuel costs

SEOUL, Oct. 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's state-run Korea Electric Power Corp.
(KEPCO) said Friday it suffered losses in the third-quarter of this year, hit by
a weaker won and strong fuel costs.
KEPCO reported a net loss of 325.3 billion won (US$242 million) in the three
months to September, compared with a profit of 1.16 trillion won for the same
period a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.
Third-quarter operating loss amounted to 365.6 billion won from a profit of 1.14
trillion won the year before. Sales rose 4.74 percent to 8.4 trillion won.
A weak currency, which has lost some 30 percent versus the U.S. dollar so far
this year, hurts KEPCO because it increases the cost of paying its foreign debts
and makes imports of coal and oil more expensive.