Portland General Electric Q3 Profit Down; Cuts FY EPS View - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Portland General Electric Co. (POR) reported third-quarter of 2013 net income attributable to the company of $31 million, or $0.40 per share, down from $38 million, or $0.50 per share in the third quarter of 2012. The decrease in earnings was primarily the result of higher power costs due to plant outages and increased delivery system costs due to service restoration work and other planned expenses.

Total revenues decreased $15 million, or 3 percent, to $435 million in the third quarter of 2013 from $450 million in the third quarter of 2012 primarily due to the net effect of an $11 million decrease resulting from lower average prices, a $7 million decrease related to the company's power cost adjustment mechanism, and a $3 million decrease related to the decoupling mechanism, with a $1 million potential refund recorded in the third quarter of 2013 compared with a $2 million potential collection recorded in the third quarter of 2012.

It was partially offset by $3 million, or 16 percent, increase in wholesale revenues; and a$2 million increase related to a 1 percent increase in the volume of retail energy delivered primarily due to the effects of weather.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.43 per share and revenues of $451.45 million. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Effective October 31, Chairman Corbin McNeill has announced his retirement from PGE's board of directors and Jack Davis has been elected as the new chairman. McNeill joined the board in 2004 and has made significant contributions to PGE during the past decade.

The company reduced its full-year 2013 earnings guidance to $1.20 to $1.30 per share from the prior estimate of $1.25 to $1.40 per share primarily due to replacement power costs for the Coyote Springs outage.

Excluding the impacts of the Cascade Crossing charge and the customer billing matter, PGE's adjusted operating earnings guidance for 2013 would be $1.70 to $1.80 per share. Analysts expect the company to report earnings of $1.39 per share for fiscal 2013.