EDF awaiting clarity before launching partial Edison sale

By Forrest Crellin

PARIS, July 31 (Reuters) - French utility EDF has not abandoned plans to sell part of its Italian subsidiary Edison, but it will wait for clarity before launching the process, its finance chief Claude Laruelle said during the company's results reporting on Friday.

Edison is facing uncertainty over gas supplies as it imports around 45% of its gas from Qatar, but Laruelle said the company is able to fully supply gas despite the disruptions.

"This period of uncertainty has reduced visibility on the years ahead. That lack of visibility, particularly regarding the spread between gas purchases and sales — and therefore its trading and processing margins — makes it difficult to proceed with the opening of the capital of a company such as Edison," Laruelle said.

He added that EDF is continuing its preliminary work on a sale.

"We are revising business plans based on tenders the company could win, particularly in renewable energy ... But we have not formally launched the process. We will do so when we have greater visibility," Laruelle said.

Two sources familiar with the sale said in May that EDF had postponed plans to sell a stake in Edison to next year.

Edison cut its full-year earnings guidance on Thursday for the second time this year as first-half results were hit by disruptions to Qatari gas supplies and weak hydroelectric generation.

(Reporting by Forrest Crellin; Editing by Joe Bavier)