INTERVIEW-EDP sees 2009 results improving despite recession

* Sees 2009 recurrent results up, beating consensus

* EDP mostly immune to fall in demand

* Bond issue up to 1 bln euros this year

* Sonaecom stake sales this year

By Andrei Khalip and Sergio Goncalves

LISBON, June 4 (Reuters) - Portugal's largest company Energias de Portugal (EDP) (EDP.LS) expects to beat last year's recurrent profit in 2009 after locking in margins via hedging contracts, offsetting a fall in demand for electricity.

Chief Financial Officer Nuno Alves told Reuters in an interview on Thursday the company should also beat market expectations, now averaging 900 million euros ($1.28 billion) in recurrent profit.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for 2009 are seen by the market at 3.2 billion euros.

"We feel comfortable with analysts' consensus for the year ... We feel we should beat those numbers," Alves said. "We'll be above last year's results, that's our expectation right now."

EDP's net profit last year rose 20 percent to 1.09 billion euros boosted by an initial public offering in its unit EDPR (EDPR.LS) -- the world's No. 4 wind power company by capacity. Recurrent profit rose 7 percent to 925 million euros. EBITDA rose 20 percent to 3.15 billion euros.

Speaking of the current quarter, Alves expected the results to be very similar to those reported for the first quarter, when net profit was 265 million euros and EBITDA 849 million euros.

"All in all a very similar quarter, a very predictable quarter that will leave investors satisfied with our results," he said.

He said EDP is largely immune to steep falls in demand from industrial clients in Spain as it had locked in margins via hedging contracts in the liberalised market.

As much as 85 percent of EDP's output is sold in the regulated market with fixed tariffs, and EDP has 90 percent of its 2009 liberalised sales guaranteed via hedging contracts.

"Even though the margins in the market are much lower than normally due to the macroeconomic conditions, EDP is churning out better results in the liberalised market than in the past," Alves said.