Exceeding expectations: Entergy Corp. announced today its fourth-quarter 2015 earnings exceeded Wall Street’s expectations. According to The Associated Press, the electrical giant reported fourth-quarter net income of $104.8 million. On a per-share basis, Entergy says it had profit of 56 cents, while earnings adjusted for non-recurring costs came to $1.58 per share. The power company posted revenue of $2.51 billion in the period. For the year, the company reported a loss of $156.7 million, or 99 cents per share. Revenue was reported as $11.51 billion. Entergy expects full-year earnings in the range of $4.95 to $5.75 per share. Entergy shares have increased almost 4% since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index has declined roughly 6%. The stock has declined 10% in the last 12 months. See the complete earnings report.
Keeping a watchful eye: Louisiana Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser tried this week to reassure a group of movie producers that Louisiana will continue to back the film industry even though state lawmakers last year capped lucrative tax credits that benefited the industry at $180 million, WWL-TV reports. The tax breaks reimbursed producers for 30% of their in-state costs, making the state an attractive location to make television shows and movies. WWL-TV reports the union representing film technicians and artists says Louisiana’s film industry remained strong throughout the implementation of the film tax incentive changes. Still, the industry is keeping a close eye on the current special budget session. Read the full story.
Digging deep: As they comb through Louisiana’s budget, state lawmakers are learning that agency cuts they made during former Gov. Bobby Jindal’s tenure may have gone deeper than the efficiencies that were described. The Associated Press reports Jindal and his agency leaders regularly explained reductions made over eight years of state government budget cuts as doing “more with less,” improving government and streamlining without damaging programs and services. Now, as Gov. John Bel Edwards’ administration digs into the agencies, lawmakers are hearing a different story as they’re being asked to decide how to rebalance this year’s budget before the fiscal year ends June 30. Edwards’ cabinet secretaries who inherited the departments say the budget slashing has made it difficult to operate programs, leaving some agencies unable to perform tasks lawmakers thought they had paid for over the years. Read the full story.
