Entergy last week reported a third-quarter profit of $398.2 million ($2.21/share), up from $388.2 million ($2.16/share) a year ago.
“We now expect to finish the year in the top half of our utility, parent and other adjusted earnings guidance range,” CEO Leo Denault said in a statement.
The New Orleans-based company affirmed its 2017 operational earnings guidance range of $6.80 to $7.40/share, and its utility, parent and other segment adjusted guidance range of $4.25 to $4.55/share. Operational earnings do not include non-routine expenses, such as the costs to close or sell the company’s merchant nuclear power plants.
Denault said Entergy will work with regulators to recover $85 million to $120 million in Hurricane Harvey restoration expenses, and that the company expects $3 million to $5 million in unbilled revenue for 2017.
The CEO also said Entergy’s recent decision to extend a power purchase agreement with Consumers Energy regarding the Palisades nuclear plant does not mean the company is staying in the merchant nuclear business. (See Entergy Abandons Palisades PPA Termination.)
“Our strategy to exit the merchant business and become a pure-play utility remains unchanged,” Denault told analysts in an earnings call last Tuesday. “This decision to continue to operate the plant will preserve value for our owners while extending our exit from the merchant nuclear business by only a year.”
— Tom Kleckner
