Piedmont Natural Gas today announced results for its third quarter ended July 31, 2012. For the quarter, the Company reported a seasonal loss of $4.6 million or ($.06) per diluted share compared with a loss of $8.7 million or ($.12) per diluted share for the same period in 2011. For the nine months ended July 31, 2012, net income was $121.8 million and diluted earnings per share were $1.69, compared with net income of $123.1 million and diluted earnings per share of $1.70 for the same period in 2011.
Piedmont Natural Gas today announced results for its third quarter ended July 31, 2012. For the quarter, the Company reported a seasonal loss of $4.6 million or ($.06) per diluted share compared with a loss of $8.7 million or ($.12) per diluted share for the same period in 2011. For the nine months ended July 31, 2012, net income was $121.8 million and diluted earnings per share were $1.69, compared with net income of $123.1 million and diluted earnings per share of $1.70 for the same period in 2011.
Utility margin increased by $4.5 million for the quarter and decreased by $6.3 million for the nine months ended July 31, 2012 compared to the same periods in 2011. The increase in margin for the quarter was primarily due to customer growth in the Company's residential and commercial markets, increased base rates in Tennessee and increased services in its power generation markets. For the nine months ended July 31, 2012, utility margin declined primarily due to substantially warmer winter weather compared to the same nine months of the prior year and reduced opportunities in the secondary wholesale markets. Margin decreases for the nine months were partially offset by customer growth.
Operations and maintenance expenses increased by $5.9 million and $14.8 million for the three- and nine-month periods ended July 31, 2012, respectively, compared to the same periods in 2011. For both periods, the increase is primarily due to higher payroll, contract labor expenses incurred in process improvement and pipeline safety activities, and in employee benefits expenses.
Pre-tax income from equity method investments was $3.3 million for the three months ended July 31, 2012, compared with $2.4 million for the same period in 2011. The increase for the quarter is primarily due to improved performance from SouthStar due to lower gas costs and from Cardinal Pipeline due to an expansion project for customers. For the nine months ended July 31, 2012, pre-tax income from equity method investments was $21.2 million compared with $22.5 million for the same period in 2011 due to warmer weather in the markets served by SouthStar partially offset by improved performance by Cardinal Pipeline.
Source: Your Oil & Gas News.