First quarter income and revenue down for OGE Energy

Oklahoma City-based OGE Energy Corp. posted ongoing first quarter net income of $45 million, down from $47.1 million in the 2019 quarter. The per share earnings of 23 cents beat the consensus estimate of 20 cents.

OGE, the parent company of OG&E which provides electricity to much of the Fort Smith metro, had first quarter revenue of $431.3 million, down from the $490 million in the same quarter of 2019, and below the consensus estimate of $511.6 million.

The company did take a $780 million one-time impairment charge related to its ownership of Enable Midstream Partners. OGE has a 50% general partner interest and a 25.5% limited partner interest in Enable. The charge reflects a “significant drop in Enable’s unit market price,” the company noted in its first quarter report.

The accounting charge resulted in a book loss of $491.8 million for OGE Energy in the first quarter.

“I’m very proud of our members’ performance during these difficult times,” OGE Energy Corp. chairman, president and CEO Sean Trauschke, said in the report. “We continue to execute on our utility plans to deliver safe, reliable and low-cost energy to our customers. While the Enable write-down was impactful to earnings this quarter, it was not a reflection of the cash flows generated by these assets. This was driven by the difference between market price and the price per unit we have on our books.”

First quarter net income in the electricity segment – OG&E – was $19.9 million, slightly better than the $19.6 million in the first quarter of 2019. OG&E, a regulated electric utility, has approximately 860,000 customers in Oklahoma and western Arkansas.

Residential electric sales in the quarter totaled $172.3 million, down from $195.4 million in the 2019 quarter. Electric sales to commercial customers was $94.1 million, down from $100.2 million in the same quarter of 2019.

OGE Energy posted 2019 net income of $433.6 million, up 1.9% from 2018. Total revenue in 2019 was $2.175 billion, down from $2.211 billion in 2018.

Company shares (NYSE: OGE) closed Friday at $31.06, up $1.77. The share price has in the past 52 weeks ranged between $23.01 and $46.43.