HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finland's Fortum <FORTUM.HE> reported on Thursday a 59% jump in its comparable operating profit for the third quarter, citing successful hedging for electricity prices, higher hydro and nuclear volumes, but the utility missed analysts' expectations.
Fortum's third-quarter operating profit surged 59% to 153 million euros ($170 million) from last year, but missed estimates of 164 million euros in a market consensus published by the company.
Sales stood at 1.06 billion euros, up 9.2% on-year and roughly in line with analysts' expectations of 1.04 billion euros.
Fortum, which has been trying to gain control of its German rival Uniper <UN01.DE> for two years, said it expects to close the deal by the end of the first quarter in 2020.
"Fortum and Uniper together have the sufficient size, expertise, and resources to succeed, to grow and lead Europe's energy transition," Fortum's Chief Executive Pekka Lundmark said in a statement.
Shares in the company were down 1.86%, as of 0715 GMT.
($1 = 0.8984 euros)
(Reporting by Anne Kauranen and Tarmo Virki, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
