RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Dominion Resources Inc. posted a
fourth-quarter loss on costs related to certain power stations the
company has put up for sale, the planned shutdown of one of its nuclear
power stations and other charges.
The energy provider said
Thursday it lost $380 million, or 66 cents per share, for the period
ended Dec. 31, compared with a profit of $201 million, or 35 cents per
share, a year ago.
Operating earnings, which Dominion uses as its
primary performance measurement, grew 19 percent to 69 cents per share,
matching analyst estimates.
The Richmond, Va.-based company
recorded $780 million in charges in the quarter associated with fossil
fuel-fired merchant power stations in the Midwest and the Northeast that
Dominion decided to market for sale, the planned shutdown of its
Kewaunee nuclear power plant in Wisconsin and storm restoration costs in
its Virginia and North Carolina service areas.
Revenue grew 1 percent to $3.17 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet expected $3.77 billion.
Dominion
also said it anticipates full-year 2013 operating earnings between
$3.20 and $3.50 per share. Analysts expect $3.37 per share.
For
the full year, the company said it earned $581 million, or $1.01 per
share, compared with $1.41 billion, or $2.45 per share, in the year-ago
period.
Shares fell 44 cents to $54.08 in morning trading Thursday
and have traded between $48.94 and $55.62 per share in the last 52
weeks.
In a news release on Thursday, CEO Thomas F. Farrell II
emphasized "significant" accomplishments and progress the company made
in 2012 to advance its infrastructure growth.
The company said
construction on the first phase of its large gas processing plant in
Natrium, W.Va., to service the Marcellus and Utica shale regions is
nearing completion and is scheduled for operation during the first
quarter of 2013. Dominion's natural gas transportation subsidiary also
placed its Appalachian Gateway project, a pipeline between West Virginia
and Pennsylvania, into service during the second half of the year.
Construction
is proceeding on a 1,329-megawatt gas-fired combined cycle plant in
Warren County and is on schedule to start operating in late 2014,
Dominion said. Plans also are moving forward for a similar facility in
Brunswick County and it expects the plant will begin commercial
operation in 2016. Conversions from coal to biomass at several of its
power stations also are under way.
Dominion is one of the nation's
largest producers and transporters of energy and has the nation's
largest natural gas storage system. It serves retail customers in 15
states.
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