WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Piedmont Natural Gas Co. (PNY) Friday said its second-quarter profit rose 11 percent from a year ago, driven mainly by strong revenue growth that was partially offset by higher gas costs. Moving ahead, the natural-gas distributor reaffirmed its full year 2013 earnings outlook.
Piedmont's second-quarter profit rose to $55.8 million or $0.74 per share from $50.2 million or $0.70 per share last year. On average, seven analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.73 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Operating revenues for the second quarter grew 29 percent to $399.41 million from $308.4 million last year.
Impacting revenues for the quarter were cost of gas that surged 58 percent to $215.6 million from last year.
Operations and maintenance costs were $65 million for the quarter, an increase of $4.5 million, reflecting higher contract labor costs, employee benefits and transportation costs.
Looking forward, Piedmont reaffirmed its fiscal year 2013 earnings guidance of $1.67 to $1.77 per share. Analysts currently expect earnings of $1.73 per share for 2013.
The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.31 per share, payable on July 15 to shareholders of record on June 24.
PNY closed Friday's trading at $33.90, down $0.04 or 0.12%, on the NYSE.
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