Germany's second largest energy company, RWE, said Thursday the firm's operating result dropped by 31 percent in the first three quarters year-on-year, totaling 2.9 billion euros ($3.6 billion).

The utility pointed to persistently low prices on the wholesale electricity market and unusually mild weather affecting its business performance in the first nine months of 2014.

RWE said recurrent net income fell to 763 million euros in the period under review, marking a 60-percent decline from bottom-line profit levels in the first three quarters of last year. The company said earnings no longer included the result from RWE's oil subsidiary Dea, which was in the process of being sold.

Optimism prevails

"Despite the decline in earnings, there were more bright than dark spots," CEO Peter Terium commented on the group's website, pointing in particular to the company's "positive development in cash flow."

He also noted that RWE successfully obtained pre-qualification for all of its power stations in Britain, saying they were eligible to be considered for a new UK capacity market as power stations there would receive compensation for keeping secured generation capacity available for the market as from winter 2018.

The utility upheld its previous full-year outlook, expecting net income to total between 1.2 billion euros and 1.4 billion euros.

The group's workforce decreased by another 7 percent in the first three quarters. The company now employs about 60,400 people (expressed as full-time equivalent positions), not counting Dea employees.

hg/sgb (Reuters, dpa)