Areva nuclear group announces €4.8bn loss

Paris - French nuclear group Areva confirmed on Wednesday record net losses in 2014 of €4.8bn after it was forced to absorb costs linked to delays to its flagship next-generation reactor.

The mostly state-owned company, which had forecast losses of €4.9bn, said it would make savings worth around one billion euros over the next few years and announce a financing plan by the end of March.

"The scale of the net loss for 2014 illustrates the two-fold challenge confronting Areva: continuing stagnation of the nuclear operations, lack of competitiveness and difficulties in managing the risks inherent in large projects," chief executive Philippe Knoche said in a statement.