Gas company RWE returns to profit in 2013

The Czech Republic’s biggest retailer of natural gas, RWE Czech Republic, said on Wednesday that it had halted the erosion of its customer base last year. RWE said it increased gas sales to 37.6 TWh from 37.0 TWh and attracted back customers with new offers. The company announced a profit of 10.5 billion crowns on turnover of 53.6 billion crowns, though the results are not comparable with previous years because of the sale of its gas pipeline company NET4GAS and other changes. It made a loss of around 16.7 billion in 2012. The company said it is consolidating its position as the biggest alternative electricity supplier by attracting a quarter of all the customers switching suppliers last year.