Entergy reports $723 million quarterly loss, shuts down another East Coast nuclear plant

After announcing plans to shut down another nuclear plant ahead of Monday’s opening bell, utility giant Entergy Corp. took a one-time impairment charge and reported a third quarter loss of $723 million after posting a profit a year ago.

For the period ended Sept. 30, the New Orleans-based utility operator reported a loss of $4.04 per share, compared to earnings of $230 million, or $1.27 a share, in the third quarter of 2014. On an operational basis, earnings were $1.90 per share in third quarter 2015 compared to third quarter 2014 as-reported earnings of $1.27 per share and operational earnings of $1.68 per share.

Entergy posted revenue of $3.37 billion compared to revenue of $3.46 billion a year ago. Wall Street had expected the parent company of Entergy Arkansas to report third quarter earnings of $2 per share on revenue of $3.53 billion, according to analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.

In news releases before the opening of market, Entergy announced plans to close the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant in New York in late 2016 or early 2017. In early October, the utility giant said it will close its aging Pilgrim nuclear power plant in Massachusetts by mid-2019, citing low power prices and shale development, regulatory challenges and government rules that don’t recognize the viability of nuclear power generation. In its third quarter financial statement, Entergy took a one-time $5.93 per share of non-cash asset impairments for the Pilgrim and FitzPatrick nuclear plants.

“This year we have intensified our focus on executing on the strategy we put in place last year, and the results are becoming evident,” said Entergy chairman and CEO Leo Denault. “Through our accomplishments in the utility, we continue to strive to meet and exceed our regulators’ and customers’ expectations; and strategic decisions regarding the future of the Entergy Wholesale Commodities’ fleet set us up to deliver long-term value.

Denault continued: “Our progress enables us to provide improved returns to our owners, safe operations and reliable service to our customers, a rewarding place to work for our employees and sustainable economic benefits to our communities.  While taking these actions are in the long-term best interest of our stakeholders, in the near-term, these decisions to close nuclear plants are very difficult to make knowing the effect they have on all of our four key stakeholder groups – employees, communities, customers and owners.”

Additional business highlights for Entergy included the following:
• Entergy Gulf States Louisiana, L.L.C. and Entergy Louisiana, LLC became one company on Oct. 1, now referred to as Entergy Louisiana LLC.

• Entergy Wholesale Commodities entered into an agreement to sell its Rhode Island State Energy Center power plant.

• Entergy Corporation was named to the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index, one of four electric utility companies designated a sustainability leader on the index.

Entergy shares (NYSE: ETR) have traded in the range of $61.27 and $92.02 over the past 52 weeks. Ahead of the week-opening session shares of the New Orleans-based utility held at $68.16.