CHARLOTTE, N.C., Sept. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Piedmont
Natural Gas (NYSE: PNY) today announced results for its third
quarter ended July 31, 2013.
For the quarter, the Company reported a seasonal loss of
$2.3 million or ($.03) per diluted share compared with a loss of
$4.6 million or ($.06) per diluted share for the same period in
2012. For the nine months ended July
31, 2013, net income was $139.4
million and diluted earnings per share were $1.86, compared with net income of $121.8 million and diluted earnings per share of
$1.69 for the same period in
2012.
Piedmont's Chairman, President,
and CEO, Thomas E. Skains, commented
on the results, "We are pleased with our year to date performance
in 2013. In particular, customer growth continues to show
steady improvement with residential and commercial customer
additions increasing 15 percent from last year. We now
forecast gross customer growth for fiscal year 2013 between 1.0
percent and 1.5 percent. The abundance and affordability of
natural gas continues to position our product as the energy
consumers' best choice and value."
Utility margin increased $10.5
million for the quarter and $33.8
million for the nine months ended July 31, 2013 compared to the same periods in
2012. The increase in margin is primarily attributable to
customer growth and increased volume deliveries in the residential,
commercial, and industrial markets due to colder winter weather,
and increased transportation services in the power generation
markets following the successful completion of the Sutton
project.
Operations and maintenance expenses increased $3.7 million and $5.7
million for the three- and nine-month periods ended
July 31, 2013, respectively.
The increase in O&M expenses for the quarter is due
to increases in utilities, employee benefits, contract labor and
other miscellaneous expenses. The increase in O&M
expenses for the nine month period is due to contract labor
expenses, utilities, regulatory expenses and other miscellaneous
expenses, partially offset by a decrease in employee benefits
expense.
Pre-tax income from equity method investments increased
$.4 million for the quarter and
$2 million for the nine months
primarily due to colder weather in the markets served by SouthStar
and the first year of the Company's investment activity in the
Constitution Pipeline project.
Company Announces Quarterly Dividend
At its regular quarterly meeting of the Company's Board of
Directors, the Board of Directors today announced the declaration
of a quarterly dividend on Common Stock of 31 cents per share, payable on October 15, 2013 to holders of record at the
close of business on September 24,
2013.
FISCAL 2013 EARNINGS GUIDANCE REAFFIRMED AT UPPER END OF
RANGE
Piedmont Natural Gas reaffirms its fiscal year 2013 earnings
guidance of $1.67 to $1.77 per
diluted share and expects full year earnings per share to be near
the upper end of the range.
Conference Call
In conjunction with this third-quarter earnings release, you are
invited to listen to the conference call that will be broadcast
live over the Internet on Monday, September
9, 2013, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern
Time, hosted by Chairman, President and Chief Executive
Officer Thomas E. Skains. Log
on to the web at www.piedmontng.com and click on Investors,
then on Presentations. The conference call will be archived
on the Presentations page of the website within the Investors
section.
Piedmont Natural Gas
Company, Inc.
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Summary of
Operations
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(in thousands except
per share amounts and degree days)
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Three Months
Ended
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July
31
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% Increase
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2013
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2012
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(Decrease)
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(Unaudited)
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(Unaudited)
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Operating
Revenues
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$162,943
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$161,123
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1%
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Cost of
Gas
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65,943
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74,663
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(12)%
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Margin
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97,000
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86,460
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12%
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Operations and
Maintenance Expenses
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62,950
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59,248
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6%
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Depreciation
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28,599
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25,532
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12%
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General
Taxes
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8,307
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8,275
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-%
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Utility Income
Taxes
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(3,447)
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(4,082)
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16%
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Operating Income
(Loss)
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591
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(2,513)
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124%
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Other Income
(Expense), net
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2,819
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1,977
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43%
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Utility Interest
Charges
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5,703
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4,077
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40%
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Net Loss
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(2,293)
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(4,613)
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50%
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Average Shares of
Common Stock:
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Basic
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75,774
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71,936
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5%
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Diluted
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75,774
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71,936
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5%
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Earnings Per Share of
Common Stock:
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Basic
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($0.03)
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($0.06)
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50%
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Diluted
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($0.03)
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($0.06)
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50%
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System Throughput -
Dekatherms
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83,112
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75,818
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10%
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Gas Customers Billed
in July
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985
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969
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2%
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System Average Degree
Days - Actual
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77
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13
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492%
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System Average Degree
Days - Normal
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49
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49
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-%
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Percent Normal Degree
Days
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157%
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27%
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-
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Nine Months
Ended
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July
31
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% Increase
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2013
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2012
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(Decrease)
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(Unaudited)
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(Unaudited)
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Operating
Revenues
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$1,078,229
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$941,395
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15%
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Cost of
Gas
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565,749
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462,748
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22%
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Margin
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512,480
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478,647
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7%
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Operations and
Maintenance Expenses
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183,869
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178,155
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3%
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Depreciation
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82,168
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76,980
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7%
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General
Taxes
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26,903
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26,196
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3%
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Utility Income
Taxes
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81,232
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71,228
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14%
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Operating
Income
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138,308
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126,088
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10%
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Other Income
(Expense)
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14,594
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12,664
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15%
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Utility Interest
Charges
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13,482
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16,946
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(20)%
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Net Income
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$139,420
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$121,806
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15%
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Average Shares of
Common Stock:
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Basic
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74,521
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71,933
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4%
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Diluted
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74,987
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72,233
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4%
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Earnings Per Share of
Common Stock:
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Basic
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$1.87
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$1.69
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11%
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Diluted
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$1.86
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$1.69
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10%
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System Throughput -
Dekatherms
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299,943
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248,730
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21%
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Gas Customers Billed
in July
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985
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969
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2%
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System Average Degree
Days - Actual
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3,186
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2,446
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30%
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System Average Degree
Days - Normal
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3,078
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3,111
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(1)%
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Percent Normal Degree
Days
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104%
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79%
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-
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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
place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements when
making investment decisions. The words "expect," "believe,"
"project," "anticipate," "intend," "should," "could,"
"assume," "can," "estimate," "forecast," "future," "indicate,"
"outlook," "plan," "predict," "seek," "target," "would,"
"guidance," 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, industrial and power generation customers
in portions of North Carolina,
South Carolina and Tennessee, including customers served by
municipalities who are wholesale customers. Our subsidiaries are
invested in joint venture, energy-related businesses, including
unregulated retail natural gas marketing, regulated interstate
natural gas transportation and storage, and intrastate natural gas
transportation businesses. More information about Piedmont Natural
Gas is available on the Internet at http://www.piedmontng.com/.
SOURCE Piedmont Natural Gas