Greek utility PPC sees sharp profit drop on costs, unpaid bills

ATHENS Aug 30 (Reuters) - Greece's biggest electricity producer PPC announced on Thursday an 86 percent profit drop for the first half, hurt by soaring power generation costs and provisions for unpaid bills.

Its net profit stood at 18.3 million euros ($22.9 million), down from a a 128.8 million euro profit in the same period last year. That exceeded an average forecast for a profit of 5.1 million euros, according to a Reuters poll of analysts. ($1 = 0.7982 euros) (Reporting by Harry Papachristou)