, Columnist
Theresa May Misses a Trick on Hinkley
Cheaper to borrow than hit EDF's rate of return.
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Stock prices are meant to efficiently reflect all available information to the market. If that's the case, EDF's shows investors have little faith the French utility will deliver the 18 billion pound ($24 billion) Hinkley Point nuclear plant on time and on budget.
After weeks of dithering, Theresa May's government gave the go-ahead for Hinkley on Thursday without making any changes to the contract that underpins it. That deal -- first struck in 2013 and notorious for guaranteeing EDF an electricity price over 35 years that's about double the current market rate -- should in theory be highly lucrative for the French supplier.