A massive drop in profits from electricity generation has forced Germany's second largest energy provider RWE to carry out wide-ranging internal restructuring, a spokeswoman said on Sunday. Job losses were not part of the plan, RWE stressed, rather it planned to focus on a simpler structure,

The Rheinische Post newspaper had reported Saturday that the simpler structures would either be a merger of all the company's subsidiaries into one company, or a complete amalgamation with the parent company.

The RWE group covers 100 companies, many of which have their own management and boards. A merger should result in a reduction of the high cost of running this level of administration. Given the falling profits from power stations, the parent could rely in the future on the more manageable and stable earnings from the grid, electricity distribution and the increasingly lucrative green energy sector. RWE's rival Eon has already made the switch to these three earning streams and has split off traditional energy generation into a separate company. RWE employs 60,000 people full-time.