OGE Energy Lags on Earnings & Revenues; Keeps 2015 View

OGE Energy Corp. OGE reported second-quarter earnings of 44 cents per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 45 cents by 2.2%. Reported earnings declined 12% year over year due to lower revenues and higher operating expenses.
 

Total Revenue

OGE Energy's operating revenues of $549.9 million in second-quarter 2015 missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $619 million by 11.2%. Reported revenues also decreased 10.1% from the prior-year figure of $611.8 million.

Operational Highlights

Total sales in the reported quarter were 7.2 million megawatt-hours (MWh) compared with 7.6 million MWh in the prior-year quarter. The decline was due to lower system and off-system sales. The company's customer count increased 1.1% over the prior year.

Cost of sales in the reported quarter was $210.9 million, down 22.1% year over year.

Total operating expenses in the quarter under review increased 6.4% year over year to $211.8 million mainly due to higher depreciation and amortization expenses (11.6%). Operating income decreased 10.3% to $127.2 million from the year-ago figure of $141.8 million.

Interest expenses were $38.0 million in the reported quarter compared with $39.4 million a year ago.

Other Highlights of the Release

OGE Energy reported net income of $87.5 million in this quarter, down 13.2% from the prior-year figure of $100.8 million.

OG&E: OG&E's net income was $69 million in the second quarter compared with $77 million in the same quarter last year. The decline was mainly due to high depreciation expenses.

Natural Gas Midstream Operations: This segment's net income was $18 million in the second quarter, down from $24 million a year ago due to lower average prices of natural gas and natural gas liquids.

Guidance

OGE Energy reaffirmed its consolidated earnings guidance for 2015 in the range of $1.76 to $1.89 per share.

OG&E, the regulated utility, also reiterated its earnings guidance in the range of $1.41 to $1.49 per share for 2015.

Other Peer Releases
    
WEC Energy Group WEC reported second-quarter 2015 adjusted earnings of 59 cents per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 55 cents by nearly 7.3%. Quarterly earnings increased a penny from the year-ago level.

Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. PEG reported second-quarter adjusted operating earnings per share of 57 cents, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 54 cents by 5.6%.

Edison International EIX reported second-quarter 2015 results wherein adjusted earnings of $1.15 per share came in ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 81 cents by 42%. The quarterly number grew 7.4% from $1.08 earned a year ago.

Zacks Rank

OGE Energy currently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

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