Aquila Posts Another Big Loss

Frantic efforts to extricate itself from the unprofitable energy trading business led to another steep loss at Aquila(ILA Quote) in the second quarter.

The Kansas City energy company, which has been trying to transform itself into a pure-play utility for about a year, lost $80.6 million, or 41 cents a share, in the second quarter, compared with $810 million, or $5.69 a share, last year. The latest quarter included a $103 million impairment cost, mainly reflecting the termination of a contract, plus $20.8 million in restructuring charges, which included $17.8 million for getting out of an interest-rate swap.

The company said the loss was "anticipated" and noted it continued to sell off assets in the quarter, including an Australian venture, while strengthening its domestic networks business. "We will continue our restructuring through this year and next," Aquila said, "especially our work to address our remaining long-term natural gas contracts and fixed capacity payments for merchant power plants." ...