Entergy Reiterates Full-Year Guidance Despite Wall Street Miss

Entergy Corp., parent company of Entergy Arkansas Inc., fell short of Wall Street expectations on Tuesday as the utility giant reported second quarter 2015 earnings per share of 83 cents, or $153.7 million, compared to second quarter 2014 operation earnings of $1.11, or $200.3 million a year ago.

Revenues for the New Orleans-based utility holding company were $2.71 billion, compared to $3 billion in the second quarter of 2014. A survey of Wall Street analysts had expected the power giant to report second quarter earnings of $1.14 per share on revenues of $3.04 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.

“Once again, financial results in the second quarter were in line with our expectations, and Entergy remains on track to meet its full year guidance,” said Entergy Chairman and CEO Leo Denault. “The utility continues to implement its program to replace aging infrastructure, strengthen reliability and enhance the environmental profile of our generation fleet. The industrial expansion across our service territory also continues to advance. And Entergy Wholesale Commodities, despite market volatility, maintained solid operational and commercial performance.”

According to Denault, Entergy expects full-year earnings for the four-state power company to be in the range of $5.10 to $5.90 per share.

During the second quarter, Entergy said utility earnings were $1.11 per share on an as-reported and an operational basis. In comparison, second quarter 2014 as-reported EPS was $1.15 and operational EPS was $1.17. Operational results reflected sales growth, the effects of productive investments and higher operating expenses.

Company officials said new industrial and expansion projects continued to ramp-up and come into service. However, billed industrial volume declined due largely to extended seasonal outages for existing large refinery customers, as well as existing chlor-alkali customer outages. On a revenue basis, sales growth, including weather-adjusted residential sales resulted in a quarter-over-quarter positive revenue contribution.

Higher utility net revenue also reflected rate adjustments for the Ninemile Point Unit 6 plant that went in service at the end of 2014 and an Entergy Mississippi, Inc. rate case. But those earnings were largely offset by changes in other line items, including higher nuclear generation expenses in part due to increased regulatory compliance at Arkansas Nuclear One in Russellville.

Ahead of the opening bell, Entergy’s shares were trending higher at $71.20 on the New York Stock Exchange, up 18 cents. The power giant’s shares have traded in the range of $69.06 and $92.02 over the past 52 weeks.