Lower Revenue Hurts Piedmont's Net Income

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On March 9, 2009, Piedmont Natural Gas(PNY Quote) reported that its Q1 FY09 net income slipped 1.7% to $80.88 million or $1.10 per share from $82.27 million or $1.12 per share due to lower revenues. The latest quarterly consensus estimate was $1.12 per share.

During Q1 FY09, Piedmont's total operating revenue decreased 1.1% to $779.64 million from $778.47 million, hurt by a $37.10 million decrease in secondary market transactions owing to decreased activity and gas costs, offset by the pass-through of increased commodity gas and demand costs to its customers. Cost of gas slipped marginally to $558.96 million from $561.44 million. As a result, gross profit margin contracted 48 basis points to 28.31% from 28.79% a year ago. Operations and maintenance expenses decreased 3.5% to $50.73 million from $52.58 million, while depreciation spiked 6.3% to $24.14 million from $22.71 million. Operating income plunged 4.1% to $88.13 million from $91.94 million in Q1 FY08. ...