PNY Piedmont Natural Gas Company, Inc.

CHARLOTTE, N.C., June 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Piedmont Natural Gas (NYSE: PNY) today announced results for its second quarter ended April 30, 2011.  For the quarter, the Company's net income was $47.4 million and diluted earnings per share were $.66 compared with net income of $46.8 million and diluted earnings per share of $.65 for the same period in 2010.  

For the six months ended April 30, 2011, net income was $131.8 million and diluted earnings per share were $1.82, compared with net income of $160.6 million and diluted earnings per share of $2.20 for the same period in 2010, which included the sale of one-half of the Company's then-current 30% membership interest in SouthStar.

Piedmont's chairman, president and chief executive officer, Thomas E. Skains commented on the results, "We are pleased with our results through the first six months of 2011 and remain focused on providing customers safe and reliable natural gas service.  We continue to deliver the message that natural gas is clean, efficient, domestic, and abundant, and take advantage of the growth opportunities in our markets."  

Utility margin increased by $4.3 million for the second quarter and by $11.3 million for the six months ended April 30, 2011, primarily due to residential customer growth, increases in volumes and services to industrial and power generation customers, and wholesale market activity, compared to the same periods in 2010.    

Operations and maintenance expenses increased by $1.4 million for the second quarter and by $.5 million for the six months ended April 30, 2011, compared to the same periods in 2010. The increase in O&M expenses for both periods is primarily due to increases in contracted labor services and transportation related expenses, partially offset by lower utility expense.

Pre-tax income from equity method investments was $12.4 million for the three months ended April 30, 2011, as compared with $13.3 million for the same period in 2010.  For the six months ended April 30, pre-tax income from equity method investments was $20.1 million compared with $25.1 million for the same period in 2010.  The decrease in both periods was primarily due to a decrease in earnings from the Company's investment in SouthStar Energy Services.

FISCAL 2011 EARNINGS GUIDANCE REAFFIRMED

Piedmont Natural Gas reaffirms its fiscal year 2011 earnings guidance of $1.50 to $1.60 per diluted share.

CONFERENCE CALL

In conjunction with the second-quarter earnings release, you are invited to listen to the conference call that will broadcast live over the Internet on Wednesday, June 8 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, hosted by Chairman, President and CEO Thomas E. Skains. Log onto the web at www.piedmontng.com and click on Investor Relations, then on Presentations. The conference call will be archived on the Presentation page of the website within the Investor Relations section.

Forward-Looking Statement  

This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements are based on management's current expectations and information currently available and are believed to be reasonable and are made in good faith. However, the forward-looking statements are subject to future events, risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the statements. Factors that may make the actual results differ from anticipated results include, but are not limited to, weather conditions, rate of customer growth, the cost and availability of natural gas, competition from other energy providers, new legislation and regulations and application of existing laws and regulations, economic and capital market conditions, the cost and availability of labor and materials and other uncertainties, all of which are difficult to predict and some of which are beyond our control. For these reasons, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements when making investment decisions. The words "expect," "believe," "project," "anticipate," "intend," "should," "could," "will," "assume," "can," "estimate," "forecast," "future," "indicate," "outlook," "plan," "predict," "seek," "target," "would," and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are only as of the date they are made and we do not undertake any obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statement, either as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. More information about the risks and uncertainties relating to these forward-looking statements may be found in Piedmont's latest Forms 10-K and 10-Q, which are available on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov.

About Piedmont Natural Gas

Piedmont Natural Gas is an energy services company primarily engaged in the distribution of natural gas to more than one million residential, commercial and industrial utility customers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, including 53,000 customers served by municipalities who are wholesale customers. Our subsidiaries are invested in joint venture, energy-related businesses, including unregulated retail natural gas marketing, interstate natural gas storage and intrastate natural gas transportation. More information about Piedmont Natural Gas is available on the Internet at http://www.piedmontng.com.

SOURCE Piedmont Natural Gas Company