E ON : raises 2021 outlook on nuclear refund one-off

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German energy firm E.ON raised its outlook on Wednesday for 2021, citing about 500 million euros ($586 million) in refunds as part of a government deal to wrap up Germany's nuclear exit.

E.ON now expects adjusted earnings before interest and tax of 4.4 billion euros to 4.6 billion euros ($5.2 billion-$5.4 billion) and adjusted net income of 2.2 billion to 2.4 billion euros.

The group previously expected adjusted EBIT of 3.8 billion to 4.0 billion euros and adjusted net income of 1.7 billion to 1.9 billion.

Germany struck a deal in March with the country's nuclear plant operators to address the financial consequences of its decision to fully abandon the technology by 2022, a process that was accelerated in the wake of Japan's Fukushima crisis.

E.ON has bundled its legacy nuclear power activities at its PreussenElektra division, where first-half adjusted EBIT more than tripled to 694 million euros, accounting for more than a fifth of group profit.

Higher gas sales and cost cuts at E.ON's British retail business also boosted profits at the group's customer unit by 75%.

($1 = 0.8533 euros)

(Reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Riham Alkousaa and Muralikumar Anantharaman)