DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE), the Detroit utility holding company, Thursday reported second quarter net income of $83 million or 51 cents a share, up from $28 million or 17 cents a share in the second quarter of 2008.
Revenue was $1.69 billion, down from $2.25 billion a year earlier.
For the six months, net income was $261 million or $1.59 a share, up from $240 million or $1.47 a share a year earlier. Revenue was $3.94 billion, down from $4.82 billion a year earlier.
"While DTE Energy's focus on cost reductions helped us achieve solid financial results this quarter, we continue to face significant challenges related to the weak economy," said Anthony F. Earley Jr., DTE Energy chairman and CEO. "We are experiencing significant electric utility sales declines that are even greater than our projections earlier this year. In addition to the sustainable savings from our continuous improvement projects, we have taken one-time actions to help offset the lower sales impacting our businesses.
"We will not, however, compromise on customer service or electric and gas service reliability," Earley added. "Maintenance at our power plants and our electric and gas distribution systems continues, and I'm happy to say that all of these facilities are performing better than ever. We will also continue to invest in projects that are creating needed jobs in our region and will ensure clean, reliable energy for our customers, and provide opportunities for earnings growth."
The company said earnings increased mostly because of cost reduction efforts and energy trading, partially offset by lower sales and cooler weather and lower gas commodity prices.
DTE CFO David E. Meador reiterated the company's full year earnings guidance of $2.75 to $3.05 a share.
The earnings announcement, as well as a package of slides and supplemental information, is available at www.dteenergy.com.
DTE Energy plans to conduct a conference call with the investment community hosted by Meador at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time Friday, July 31, to discuss second quarter earnings results. Investors, the news media and the public may listen to a live internet broadcast of the meeting at www.dteenergy.com. The telephone dial-in numbers are (888) 298-3511 or (719) 325-2383. There is no passcode. The internet broadcast will be archived on the company's Web site. An audio replay of the call will be available from 11 a.m. July 31 to Aug. 14. To access the replay, dial (888) 203-1112 or (719) 457-0820 and enter passcode 1517416.
DTE;s operating units include Detroit Edison, an electric utility serving 2.2 million customers in Southeastern Michigan, MichCon, a natural gas utility serving 1.2 million customers in Michigan and other non-utility, energy businesses focused on gas pipelines and storage, coal transportation, unconventional gas production, and power and industrial projects.
E-Mail Story
Print Story
