Entergy expects 2Q profit fall

Power provider Entergy Corp. says it expects second-quarter earnings to miss analysts’ forecasts, driven by outages at its wholesale nuclear power plants and an impairment charge for trust funds covering the eventual closure of nuclear plants. Entergy also lowered its full-year earnings guidance, citing, in part, declining power prices, as well as expenses and items connected to its planned spinoff of five wholesale nuclear power stations into a separate company, Enexus Energy Corp. Entergy estimated second-quarter earnings of about $1.13 per share, compared with $1.37 per share last year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters on average forecast earnings of $1.48 per share. Analysts typically exclude one-time items. Entergy lowered its full-year earnings to between $6 per share and $6.60 per share, citing lower power prices and other trust impairment charges. Previously, Entergy had indicated that earnings could approach the lower end of guidance ranging between $6.56 per share and $7.16 per share.