Areva nuclear group announces €4.8bn loss

French nuclear group Areva on Wednesday confirmed record net losses in 2014 of 4.8 billion euros ($5.3 billion) after it was forced to absorb costs linked to project delays.
The mostly state-owned company, which had forecast losses of 4.9 billion euros, said it would make savings worth around one billion euros over the next few years and announce a financing plan by the end of March.
Areva has taken a particular hit in the past year from delays in building its Olkiluoto 3 nuclear plant in Finland, as well as difficulties with its renewable energy contracts.
It also said earlier there were impairment charges tied to the modernisation of its uranium conversion plant, the Comurhex II project in France.
The company, which is 87-percent owned by the French state, has suffered in recent years as interest in nuclear power has cooled following the 2011 Fukushima catastrophe in Japan.
Areva announced in October that it would cut investments and step up sales of non-strategic assets as it tries to shore up its finances.
Areva has a market value on the Paris Bourse of 3.7 billion euros.