WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Utility firm Dominion Resources, Inc. (D) reported Wednesday a lower second-quarter profit, hurt mainly by restoration costs associated with summer storms. Operating earnings, excluding certain items, missed analysts' expectations. The company also issued operating earnings guidance for the third quarter and affirmed its full year 2012 view.
At the end of June, a series of powerful storms moved through Virginia and northeastern North Carolina, disrupting service to more than one million of its customers. The company incurred $45 million of restoration costs associated with the storms.
Dominion said its quarterly results were positively impacted by lower operations and maintenance expenses and higher contributions from unregulated retail energy marketing operations, but offset by milder-than-normal weather in regulated electric service territory and lower merchant generation margins.
The results for the recent quarter also included $17 million net loss from discontinued operations and $16 million net loss from operations at its Kewaunee nuclear merchant power station, which is being marketed for sale.
Thomas Farrell II, chairman, president and chief executive officer said, 'All of our business units performed well in the second quarter and together delivered results that, given milder-than-normal weather, met our expectations.'
In the second quarter, the company's net earnings declined to $258 million or $0.45 per share from $336 million or $0.58 per share reported last year.
Adjusted for certain items, operating earnings per share were $0.59, unchanged from last year. On average, 14 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.60 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Looking ahead to the third quarter, Dominion expects operating earnings to be in the range of $0.90 per share to $1.00 per share. Analysts expect the company to report earnings of $1.00 per share for the third-quarter.
For full-year 2012, Dominion continues to anticipate operating earnings in a range of $3.10 to $3.35 per share. Analysts are looking for earnings of $3.19 per share for the full year.
In addition, the company stated that amounts for 2011 and first quarter of this year have been recast to reflect results for State Line and Salem Harbor generating stations as discontinued operations.
D is currently trading at $54.43, up 0.22 percent on the NYSE.
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