EDF has reported a sharp drop in UK earnings last year as it lost 200,000 customers to rivals amid a "highly competitive" market.

The French energy firm said earnings for its UK business tumbled 16.5 per cent to £691 million in the year to December 31, as it blamed a downturn in nuclear power generation and "lower realised net prices".

Sales came in at €8.97 billion (£7.9bn), a rise of 3.9%.

The fall in earnings comes despite the firm announcing two substantial price hikes last year, and energy customers on EDF's standard variable tariff face a 10% price increase from April 1.

It follows an announcement by Ofgem that there will be an increase to the energy price cap.

EDF Energy had three million residential electricity accounts and 1.9 million gas customers at the end of last year, a decrease of around 200,000.

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"The supply activities benefited from increases in residential tariffs, although the residential customer portfolio showed a year-on-year decrease of -4.2% in a highly competitive environment," EDF said.

The Herald: Mr Kipling mince pie factory

Mr Kipling cake firm Premier Foods has scrapped plans to sell off its Ambrosia custard brand, blaming the current business climate.

The group put the unit up for sale last year as it came under pressure from activist investor Oasis, and Premier said at the time that it was in talks with several prospective bidders.

However, it has since parted company with chief executive Gavin Darby, who ordered the sale.

Premier said: "A number of parties expressed interest in the business, and since the new year the company has been engaged in detailed discussions with a small group of potential buyers."

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It added: "The board has concluded that in the present business climate the process will not result in a satisfactory financial outcome. As a result, these discussions have now concluded."

Ambrosia, which is famous for its Devon Custard and Rice Pudding, is over 100 years old and has been produced in Devon since the factory opened in 1958.

The Herald: Patisserie ValeriePatisserie Valerie

Administrators to cake chain Patisserie Valerie have sold off one of the firm's sister brands Baker & Spice to the Department of Coffee & Social Affairs for £2.5 million.

Baker & Spice has five stores in Belgravia, Chelsea, Maida Vale, Oxford and within Selfridges.

It comes a day after KPMG announced that 96 stores, including nine in Scotland, contained within the main Patisserie Valerie business have been bought by Irish private equity firm Causeway Capital Partners for £13m.

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In a separate transaction, food wholesaler AF Blakemore and Son has picked up all 21 Philpotts stores, including one in Edinburgh and one in Glasgow.

Those deals safeguarded nearly 2,000 jobs.