E.ON CEO sees upturn in energy demand - FT

LONDON, July 1 (Reuters) - The chief executive of German utlity E.ON (EONGn.DE) expects to see an upturn in energy demand in the next quarter, the Financial Times said on Wednesday.

"My view is that we will have probably seen the bottom this quarter, and energy demand is not going down any further," Wulf Bernotat said in an interview with the paper.

He said, however, that the upturn will be slow.

"I expect an L-shaped recovery, with a little bit of an upward slope to the L, and I expect that will continue into next year," he said.

Bernotat confirmed talks to sell its Thuega municipal utility unit but said it would take until next year to close a deal.

"There is a group that is interested and if they come in with the right price and get the guaranteed financing, then we might end up with a deal."

In April, sources told Reuters E.ON was in exclusive talks with a group of local German utilities to sell the unit for up to 3.5 billion euros. [ID:nLH443157] (Reporting by Victoria Bryan; Editing by Gary Hill)