Eon, the German utility, recorded a net loss of €16bn for 2016 — the largest in his history — and unveiled ambitious measures to reduce debt by €7bn through asset sales and cutting 1,300 jobs. The loss reflected impairments on Uniper, the new fossil fuel power company spun out of Eon last year, as well as payments Eon is having to make into a new state fund to cover the cost of disposing and storing Germany’s nuclear waste. But it said its balance sheet for 2016 will be the “last to reflect the burdens of the past”, leaving the company free to focus on its three core businesses — energy networks, customer solutions and renewables. “2016 was a transitional year,” said Johannes Teyssen, Eon’s chief executive. The impact on the company’s balance sheet from the Uniper spin-off and the nuclear deal with the government “marks a turning point and clears Eon’s way into the new energy world”, he said. Eon’s results come less than a month after its rival RWE unveiled a €5.7bn loss for 2016 — the largest in its 119-year history — and said it was scrapping its dividend for the second year in a row.