CHARLOTTE — Duke Energy Corp. (DUK) on Thursday reported third-quarter profit of $1.25 billion but didn’t perform as well as expected on revenues. Chair and CEO Lynn Good cited “mild weather” as a factor hitting revenues.
“Over the past year, we’ve built considerable momentum on our strategic priorities, delivering a series of constructive regulatory outcomes, and solidifying our path as a fully regulated utility. We’ve also responded to revenue pressures from mild weather and lower customer usage with agile cost reduction efforts,” Good said in a statement.
“As we execute our $65 billion five-year capital plan – one of the largest in our industry – our long-term organic growth strategy has never been more clear. Our attractive dividend yield, coupled with long-term earnings growth from investments in our regulated utilities, has us well positioned to deliver sustainable value and earnings growth of 5 to 7% over the next five years.”
The Charlotte-based company said it had profit of $1.59 per share. Earnings, adjusted to account for discontinued operations and non-recurring costs, were $1.94 per share.
The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.92 per share.
The electric utility posted revenue of $7.99 billion in the period, missing Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $8.11 billion.
Duke Energy expects full-year earnings in the range of $5.55 to $5.65 per share.
