AFP - Italian energy group Enel reported a huge quarterly profits slump on Wednesday and further big bond issues to reduce debt following the purchase of Spanish company Endesa.

The group, while standing by a forecast that results would rise for the whole year, said that net profit in the third quarter dropped by 42.8 percent to 1.187 billion euros (1.75 billion dollars).

Enel said the fall reflected a windfall tax gain for the same period last year that skewed the comparison.

However, the outcome was better than expected by analysts, polled by Dow Jones newswires, who had forecast about 1.02 billion euros.

And operating profit rose by 16.4 percent to 4.547 billion euros from a 7.8-percent rise in sales to 17.23 billion euros, owing to the contribution from Endesa.

The group has already issued 10 billion euros' worth of bonds in recent weeks to reduce debt, which exploded with the acquisition of Endesa, a big Spanish energy utility group.

It said on Wednesday that it would launch one or several bond issues by the end of 2010 to raise a total of 4.0 billion dollars.

Chief executive Fulvio Conti said: "The improvement in performance in the first nine months confirms the group's solidity, despite a general reduction in power demand.

"The debt reduction plan continues, with net consolidated debt declining by 1.7 billion euros at the end of September, compared with the peak reached last June.