RWE profits disappoint investors

RWE plans to invest 30bn euros in power generation by 2012

Rising electricity prices helped Germany's second-biggest power company, RWE, report a jump in profits.

Excluding one-off charges, it reported net income of 2.97bn euros ($4.4bn, £2.2bn) last year, up 21%, but that was less than analysts were expecting.

RWE's UK business, Npower, reported an operating profit of 724m euros (£546m) last year, a 30% rise.

RWE announced plans to raise investment in power stations and the energy grid to 30bn euros over the next five years.

RWE's annual sales were down slightly to 42.5bn euros.

It has now pledged to raise operating profits by 5% every year until 2012.

The firm has international expansion plans, targeting Turkey, Greece, Russia and South-Eastern Europe.

In an attempt to reduce its emission of carbon dioxide, RWE plans to triple its output from renewable energy sources.

RWE is Europe's largest producer of carbon dioxide, the gas blamed for global warming.