German Gas Firms Doing All Right

Two German gas companies, E.ON AG and RWE AG, expect their second-quarter operating profit to rise at least 10 percent because of higher energy prices.
RWE on Tuesday may report operating profit, or earnings before interest and taxes, rose 15 percent to 1.3 billion euros ($1.6 billion), according to a Bloomberg survey of 10 analysts.
E.ON on Thursday may say profit rose 9.5 percent to 1.7 billion euros. Net income at E.ON and RWE was affected by gains from asset sales.
In Germany and the U.K., Europe's two largest economies, wholesale power prices jumped more than 10 percent in the second quarter as commodities such as oil and coal traded near record highs. E.ON entered the U.K. with Powergen Plc, which it agreed to buy for $7.8 billion in September 2001, and RWE followed with a $5.6 billion purchase of Innogy Holdings Plc six months later.