FRENCH-OWNED gas and electricity supplier EDF Energy has posted an increase in its annual earnings in the UK to £1.69 billion, driven by the performance of its eight nuclear power stations.

The company, which unveiled a deal last year to build a new nuclear site at Hinkley Point C in Somerset, also confirmed that it expects to announce an extension in the life of its Dungeness B power station in Kent until 2028.

The company said it had invested £1.1bn on its existing nuclear and coal stations, its new nuclear project, new generation capacity, gas storage facilities and its customer supply business.

The results for 2013 did not reveal the scale of profits from EDF's domestic supply business, which are expected to be published in June.

The division is thought likely to have remained loss-making in 2013, though narrower than the £92 million shortfall the  year before.

EDF, which serves around 3.9 million households and is one of the so-called Big Six UK energy suppliers, raised its domestic tariffs by 3.9% from January, lower than many of its rivals.