French power giant EDF said Thursday a drop in nuclear power generation in France and a state-imposed cap on energy prices pushed it into a record loss in the first six months of 2022.

EDF said in a statement that it booked a bottom-line loss of 5.3 billion euros ($5.4 billion) from January to June from the net profit of 4.2 billion euros in the same period a year earlier.

At an underlying level, too, profits plunged, with earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) dropping by 75% to 2.7 billion euros.

On the other hand, sales grew by 67% to 66.3 billion euros in the six-month period.

"The results for the first half of the year reflect the difficulties encountered in nuclear generation in France and, to a lesser extent, in hydropower generation, as well as the effect of the tariff shield introduced in France in 2022," said chief executive Jean-Bernard Levy.

The profit slide was largely attributable to "the drop in nuclear output linked to the phenomenon of stress corrosion, by the impact of the exceptional regulatory measures adopted by the French government to limit the increase in prices to consumers in 2022", Levy said.

"These events have forced the group to purchase electricity in a context of high market prices," he said.