UPDATE: PG&E Corp 3Q Profit Jumps 4.6% On CapEx Investments
(Updates with additional details and comment from conference call.)
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
PG&E Corp.'s (PCG) third-quarter profit rose 4.6%, beating analysts' estimates
on additional revenue from new infrastructure investments.
PG&E said its Pacific Gas & Electric Co. utility has spent $3 billion on
infrastructure so far this year, boosting the amount of assets on which it's
permitted to earn returns. The utility's profits are more insulated from
slumping power demand because California regulation decouples returns from
power sales.
Pacific Gas & Electric has about 15 million customers in central and northern
California and has been working to stem unpaid bills during the economic
downturn in the state, with home-foreclosure rates among the nation's highest.
The company has also been trimming costs, with utility president Christopher
Johns saying on a conference call that the company's workforce has been cut by a
little over 2%.
PG&E reported profit of $321 million, or 83 cents a share, up from $307
million, or 83 cents, a year earlier. On a non-GAAP basis, the company earned 93
cents a share compared with 83 cents. Revenue fell 12% to $3.23 billion.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had most recently forecast earnings of 91
cents a share on $3.48 billion in sales.
Operating margin rose to 18.8% from 17.4%, while the utility's electricity
sales declined 8.7%, and its natural gas revenue plunged 24%.
The company stuck by its financial guidance for the year, saying it still
expects earnings per share of $3.15-$3.25. Analysts expect, on average, 2009
earnings of $3.16 a share. PG&E reaffirmed its guidance for 2010 and 2011 as
well, saying it expects EPS of $3.35-$3.50 and $3.65-$3.85, respectively.
The company said Monday that it agreed to buy solar energy from two California
projects, one from FPL Group Inc.'s (FPL) NextEra and the other from Spain's
Abengoa SA (ABG.MC), as the company looks for ways to boost renewable-energy
development to meet government mandates and prepare for federal constraints on
greenhouse-gas emissions.
Also on Monday, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said PG&E had agreed to
increase the percentage of its customers that can sell power back to the utility
from rooftop solar systems to 3.5% from 2.5%. Growing customer purchases of
rooftop-solar systems threatened to run up against the 2.5% cap, which would
have stymied demand and solar development in the state.
Shares of PG&E were recently down 22 cents at $41.33 apiece on the New York
Stock Exchange.
-By Nathan Becker, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2855; nathan.becker@
dowjones.com
(Mark Long in New York contributed to this article.)
Order free Annual Report for PG&E Corporation
Visit http://djnewswires.ar.wilink.com/?link=PCG or call 1-888-301-0513
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
10-29-091554ET
Copyright (c) 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
|