RWE, the German power company, has halted the sale of its American Water division because of uncertainty in markets in the United States. It means that it will not be able to make a large dividend payment, which was dependent on the sale of the business.

RWE said that if it went ahead with the sale now, it would raise only 80 per cent of what it believed the business was worth.

Delaying the sale until next year is the first key move by Jürgen Grossmann, the chief executive, who took over last month.

The company’s delay comes after similar moves by other businesses in the wake of the financial turmoil worldwide, including RusAl, the world’s largest aluminium producer.

The power group is committed to using the proceeds from the sale to pay shareholders 80 per cent of its net income adjusted for extraordinary effects – termed recurrent net income. For this year it said that the payout would be 60 per cent.

RWE, which sold Thames Water last year for £8 billion, is pulling out of its water interests outside continental Europe because of their investment demands for new infrastructure. RWE bought American Water in 2003 for €4.5 billion.

Yesterday RWE reported nine-month earnings, up at €5.8 billion from €4.8 billion a year ago, that were better than expected.

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