Power Generation Results Mixed (D, XEL, NRG, EXC, RRI)

By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Mar 19, 11:38AM EDT · Published Apr 30, 7:48AM EDT

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Three large electric utilities reported earnings this morning, and the results are could be better, but they could also be worse. Dominion Resources, Inc. (NYSE:D) and NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) were up following their reports.

The largest of the three, Dominion reported GAAP EPS of $0.42 on revenue of $4.778 billion. Operating earnings, which excludes a $272 million impairment charge on Dominion’s oil and gas properties, came in at $0.97/share. Analysts were expecting EPS of $0.88 on revenue of $4.12 billion.

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) reported EPS of $0.70, beating estimates of $0.45 handily. Revenue of $1.658 billion also beat estimates of $1.16 billion. The company noted that it had spent $5 million fighting off the takeover bid from Exelon Corp. (NYSE:EXC), and $12 million on its pending acquisition of the Texas retail business of Reliant Energy Inc. (NYSE:RRI). Excluding mark-to-market gains of $271 million, NRG’s EBITDA was $477 million for the first quarter of 2009, compared with EBITDA of $525 in the same quarter last year.

Xcel Energy Inc. (NYSE:XEL) reported GAAP EPS of $0.38 on revenues of $2.7 billion. Analysts had been expecting EPS of $0.37 on revenues of $3.09 billion. The company’s electric margins improved from $885 million in the first quarter of 2008 to $962 million for the first quarter of 2009, primarily on the basis of lower purchased fuel and power costs. Retail rate increases contributed $45 million of the $77 million difference.

Dominion provided guidance of EPS of $0.61-$0.66 for the 2009 second quarter. Analysts had been estimating EPS of $0.59 for the second quarter.

NRG guided EBITDA for fiscal year 2009 to $2.175 billion, lower than analysts’ average estimates of $2.39 billion. The company noted “the very weak market” in the last portion of the first quarter.

Xcel reaffirmed previous EPS guidance of $1.45-$1.55 for the full fiscal year. Analysts are expecting EPS of $1.51.

Dominion shares are trading up about 2% in pre-market trading this morning. NRG shares are up nearly 5%, and Xcel is unchanged.

Paul Ausick
April 30, 2009

About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.