Electric utility NRG Energy Inc. (NRG: Quote) on Wednesday reported a 60 percent decline in profit for the second quarter on lower revenues, while the prior-year results included a gain on the reversal of tax liabilities. In addition, the company's Texas generation business reported a loss for the quarter. Nevertheless, earnings per share beat analysts' estimates.
Looking ahead, the company maintained its EBITDA forecasts for fiscal years 2012, 2013 and 2014. The company's board of directors declared a first-ever quarterly dividend on the company's common stock.
Net income at the company's retail segment for the second quarter soared to $797 million from $17 million in the year-ago period. The company noted that customer growth initiatives within Texas drove an approximate 61,000 increase in customer count since December 31, 2011.
Meanwhile, the Texas generation segment recorded a loss of $427 million compared to net income of $211 million last year.
David Crane, President and CEO of NRG said, "NRG's solid second quarter results demonstrate the benefits of our integrated wholesale-retail model and keep us on course for delivering on our 2012 guidance. With our efforts to close the merger with GenOn well under way, we remain focused on outstanding results for the remainder of 2012 as we look to harness the power of an even stronger and more diversified NRG in 2013."
NRG Energy's second-quarter net income was $248 million or $1.08 per share, down from $618 million or $2.53 per share in the year-ago period.
The prior-year quarter's results were positively impacted by more than $600 million as a result of the reversal of tax liabilities that resulted from an affirmation of the company's net operating loss positions following the completion of a federal tax audit.
On average, eight analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.17 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Total operating revenues for the quarter declined 5 percent to $2.17 billion from $2.28 billion in the prior-year quarter. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $2.69 billion.
Looking ahead to fiscal 2012, NRG maintained its forecast for EBITDA in a range of $1.825 billion to $2.000 billion, with Wholesale contributing $1.200 billion-$1.300 billion and Retail contributing $625 million-$700 million.
NRG also maintained its previously disclosed EBITDA guidance range of $1.700 billion to $1.900 billion for each of 2013 and 2014 as well as free cash flow before growth investments guidance ranges of $650 million to $850 million for 2013 and $500 million to $700 million for 2014.
The company's board of directors declared a first-ever quarterly dividend on the company's common stock of $0.09 per share, or $0.36 per share on an annualized basis. The dividend is payable August 15, 2012, to shareholders of record as of August 1, 2012.
In Wednesday's regular session, NRG is trading at $19.92, up $0.38 or 1.97 percent on a volume of 73,271 shares.
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by RTT Staff Writer
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