UPDATE 1-A2A 9-mth core earnings fall as prices dip
* 9-mth net hit by one-off tax payments
* Net debt rises to 4.358 bln euros
* Shares down 0.3 percent
(Adds details, background, share price)
MILAN, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Italian regional utility A2A SpA (A2.MI) posted a 5.4 percent fall in nine-months core earnings on Thursday due to lower volumes and lower power prices.
The result was also dented by an end to incentives for its waste plant business. The company said the impact of these factors will be offset next quarter by the consolidation of E.ON assets recently acquired and by a new generating station.
The economic downturn is hurting power producers more than feared, results from some of Europe's largest utilities GDF Suez (GSZ.PA), EDF (EDF.PA), RWE (RWEG.DE) and CEZ (CEZPsp.PR), showed on Thursday. [ID:nLC363111]
A2A's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in the first nine months were 754 million euros ($1.13 billion), while net profit fell 99.2 percent to 2 million euros, hit by one-off tax-related payments.
In October, A2A paid a further 200 million euros to settle a long-running dispute over former tax breaks the European Union has since said amount to state aid.
A2A, Italy's biggest municipal utility controlled by the cities of Milan and Brescia, said its net debt rose by 874 million to 4.358 billion euros from end-2008 to the end of September mainly due to the acquisition of Montenegro energy company EPCG.
At 1500 GMT, A2A shares were down 0.3 percent at 1.29 euros while the DJ Stox Utilities index .SX6P was up 0.18 percent. ($1=.6668 Euro) (Reporting by Stephen Jewkes; Editing by Joel Dimmock)
