(RTTNews) - Thursday, energy delivery company NSTAR (NST: News ), reported a rise in profit for the third quarter, notwithstanding a drop in revenues. Earnings came in ahead of analysts' consensus by a penny. Looking ahead, the company reaffirmed its earnings outlook for fiscal 2009.

The Boston, Massachusetts-based company's net income for the third quarter rose 2.1% to $87.64 million from $85.82 million in the year-ago quarter. On a per share basis, earnings climbed 2.5% to $0.82 from $0.80 last year.

On average, six analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.83 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time charges and gains.

Operating revenues for the quarter dropped 13.5% to $771.47 million from $892.21 million in the year-ago quarter.

Electric sales for the quarter declined 3.5% as a result of an unseasonably mild summer this year. Further, the company said an increase in transmission revenues as a result of increased investment base, an increase in distribution revenues due to a performance-based rate adjustment and a decline in operations and maintenance costs was partially offset by increases in depreciation expense and property taxes and a decline in electric sales.
For the nine-month period, the company's net income rose 5.2% to $205.61 million from $195.42 million in the same period last year. On a per share basis, earnings increased 4.9% to $1.92 per share from $1.83 per share last year. Operating revenues for the period declined 4.1% to $2.42 billion from $2.53 billion in the corresponding period last year.

Thomas May, chairman, president and chief executive officer, NSTAR said, "We remain on track for another good year for our customers and shareholders. This is a tremendous accomplishment given the current economic challenges. We have been very successful in our efforts to reduce costs across the company while maintaining our service quality performance at very high levels."

Looking ahead to fiscal year 2009, the company continues to expect net earnings in the range of $2.33 - $2.43 per share. Analysts currently expect the company to report earnings of $2.36 for the full year.

NST is currently trading at $31.42, up $0.06 or 0.19, on a volume of 0.35 million shares on the NYSE.

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by RTT Staff Writer

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