Entergy boosts profit on weather-related power usage

Entergy boosted its second-quarter profit by 39% as consumers lowered their thermostats and industrial activity picked up, the company reported today. For the April-through-June period, Entergy earned $315.3 million, or $1.65 per share, compared with year-ago earnings in the second quarter of $226.8 million, or $1.14 per share. Revenue jumped 13.6% to $2.86 billion from $2.52 billion a year ago. The results beat Wall Street forecasts. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, on average, had forecast per-share earnings of $1.62 and revenue of $2.85 billion. Utility earnings rose from 74 cents per share to $1.81 per share. Entergy said residential power sales rose 2.1%—mostly due to hot weather—while commercial and government sales were up 1.5%. Industrial sales jumped 12.2%. Earnings for Entergy Nuclear, which sells power on the wholesale market, rose to 63 cents per share from 40 cents per share because of higher generation resulting from fewer planned or unplanned plant outages. Entergy’s parent division lost 16 cents per share, up from 1 cent per share a year ago, because of higher income taxes, the company says. Entergy affirmed its 2010 guidance, calling for a range of $5.95 to $6.80 per share. Thomson Reuters-surveyed analysts forecast an annual profit of $6.73 per share.