Cold winter weather gives boost to Entergy in 1Q
Power company Entergy's 1Q profit more than doubles, buoyed by cold winter weather
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Entergy's first-quarter net income more than doubled, with the power company benefiting from a cold winter.
For the three months ended March 31, Entergy Corp. earned $401.2 million, or $2.24 per share. That's up sharply from $161.4 million, or 90 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding certain items, earnings were $2.29 per share.
Analysts polled by FactSet predicted earnings of $1.68 per share.
Earlier this month Entergy said that its commodities unit benefited from significantly higher wholesale electricity prices in the quarter, thanks to cold winter weather and the limited capacity of natural gas pipelines to the Northeast. The utility segment was also bolstered by the cold temperatures.
Revenue rose 23 percent to $3.21 billion from $2.61 billion. This easily topped the $2.83 billion that Wall Street expected.
Entergy reiterated its 2014 earnings forecast of $5.55 to $6.75 per share. Analysts foresee $5.55 per share.
Shares of the New Orleans-based company added 23 cents to $71.25 in afternoon trading on Thursday.
