Exelon Profit Falls on Nuclear Power Plant Closures

By Imani Moise 

Exelon Corp. said its third-quarter earnings fell 22%, as the energy company saw decreased capacity prices and more write-downs related to the decommissioning of nuclear plants.

Still, the company, which owns utilities serving Chicago, Philadelphia and Baltimore as well as many power plants, raised its full-year earnings guidance to $2.75 a share from $2.55.

Low wholesale electricity prices have been pressuring owners of older power plants -- especially nuclear facilities, many of which are threatened with closure. This year prices for wholesale electricity recently hit a 15-year low and experts expect them to rise too slowly to help generators much. Fifteen to 20 nuclear reactors are considered at risk of premature closure in the next five to 10 years, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute, a trade group.

In August, Exelon Generation agreed to buy a nuclear power plant in New York that Entergy Corp. had slated to close for about $110 million. The purchase is pending regulatory approval.

Over all for the quarter, the Chicago-based company reported a profit of $490 million, or 53 cents a share, down from $629 million, or 69 cents, a year earlier. Excluding certain items, earnings rose to 91 cents from 83 cents.

Revenue jumped 22% to $9 billion. On an adjusted basis, revenue was $8.84 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast earnings of 78 cents on $7.79 billion in revenue.

Shares, inactive premarket, closed at $32.90 and have fallen 11% in the past three months.

Write to Imani Moise at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 26, 2016 09:32 ET (13:32 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.