Pacific Gas
PG&E, parent of California’s Pacific Gas & Electric utility, said Thursday its fourth-quarter earnings rose 34%, as it reaped benefits from capital investments and a year-ago period that was hurt by severance costs.
The company earned $203 million, or 56 cents per share, compared with $152 million, or 43 cents per share, in the same quarter of 2006. PG&E said the 2006 quarter included $18 million, or 5 cents per share, in severance costs from job cuts.
Analysts were expecting a profit of 55 cents per share, according to a poll by Thomson Financial.
The company said the quarter was driven mostly by earnings from higher capital investments in energy infrastructure projects.
For the full year, the company posted a profit of $1.01 billion, or $2.78 per share, compared with $991 million, or $2.76 per share, in 2006.
Operating revenue rose 6 % to $13.2 billion.
The company also reaffirmed its 2008 adjusted earnings prediction within a range of what Wall Street is expecting.
The company expects earnings from continuing operations, which excludes some one-time items, of $2.90 per share to $3 per share online cash advance. Fifteen analysts polled by Thomson Financial offered predictions between $2.87 and $3.05 per share, with an average estimate of $2.97 per share.
For 2009, the company expects to earn $3.15 per share to $3.25 per share. Ten analysts polled by Thomson Financial forecast earnings between $3.18 per share and $3.25 per share, with an average prediction of $3.21 per share.
PG&E raised its quarterly common stock dividend to 39 cents from 36 cents. The first-quarter dividend is payable April 15 to shareholders of record March 31.
Shares of PG&E (PCG, Fortune 500) rose 41 cents to $39.58 in morning trading.