By Lisa Beilfuss
Electric-power producer Entergy Corp. reported a sharp decline
in second-quarter profit as the company swung to a loss in its
wholesale-commodities business.
Results fell far short of analysts' expectations.
The New Orleans-based company, which owns utilities in Arkansas,
Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, and sells power on the wholesale
market, has been pressured by low U.S. natural-gas prices that have
pushed wholesale power prices lower.
In the second quarter, Entergy's wholesale-commodities segment
booked a loss of $4 million from a profit of $26 million a year
earlier. The company pointed to lower wholesale power prices and
decreased nuclear generation as well as the closure of the Vermont
Yankee Nuclear Power Station last year. On a per-share basis, the
segment lost two cents a share.
In Entergy's utility group, earnings fell to $1.11 a share from
$1.15 a year earlier. Entergy said that while new projects ramped
up during the quarter, billed industrial volume declined due
largely to extended seasonal outages for large refinery
customers.
In all for the June quarter, the company reported a profit of
$148.8 million, down from $189.4 million a year earlier. On a
per-share basis, earnings rose fell to 83 cents from $1.05. Weather
shaved two cents per share off of earnings, the company said.
Revenue slid 9% to $2.71 billion.
Analysts anticipated $1.14 in earnings per share on $3.04
billion in revenue.
Despite the second-quarter weakness, Entergy backed its
full-year outlook, still expecting to report $5.10 to $5.90 in
earnings per share. Analysts, according to Thomson Reuters, predict
$5.50 in full-year profit per share.
Shares in the company, down about 19% this year, were inactive
premarket.
Write to Lisa Beilfuss at lisa.beilfuss@wsj.com
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