Business & Farm
The Daily Dispatch
Duke Energy’s 2nd quarter profit hurt as energy demand declines By MARK WILLIAMS AP Energy Writer
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Power company Duke Energy said Tuesday that its second-quarter earnings fell as demand for power from industrial customers continues to slide because of the recession. Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke said Tuesday that it made $276 million, or 21 cents per share, for the quarter ended June 30 compared with profit of $351 million, or 28 cents a share, in the year ago quarter. Revenue fell to $2.9 billion from $3.2 billion. Discounting one-time charges, Duke said it made 26 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected Duke to report profit of 25 cents a share on revenue of $3.17 billion. Duke said industrial sales in the Carolinas were
off 18.5 percent in the quarter. In the Midwest, industrial sales fell 20.9 percent. Like other utilities, Duke has been working to manage costs during the recession. Operating expenses were down $181 million during the quarter compared with a year ago. “Sales have been off. Controlling our costs has allowed us to perform as well as we did,” Jim Rogers, Duke’s chairman, president and CEO, said in an interview. Industrial demand has been particularly weak nationwide with sales falling 12 percent in the first quarter of this year from a year ago, according to the Energy Information Administration. Total consumption nationwide is expected to fall 2 percent this year and rise 0.8 percent next year. Chief Financial Officer
Lynn Good said Duke’s industrial customers are indicating that business is stabilizing. Automaker BMW is ramping up production at its plant in South Carolina in September and some steel customers suggest business is beginning to improve, she said. Year to date, Duke has made $620 million, or 48 cents per share, compared with profit of $816 million, or 63 cents, per share in the first half of 2008. Revenue has fallen to $6.2 billion this year compared with $6.6 billion for the first half of 2008. Duke is one of the largest electric power companies in the United States with about 4 million customers in the Carolinas, Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. It also has about 500,000 gas customers in Ohio and Kentucky and generates electricity in Latin America.
Pending home sales index rises for fifth straight month WASHINGTON (AP) — Pending U.S. home sales rose in June for the fifth straight month, another encouraging sign of life for the embattled U.S. housing market, the National Association of Realtors reported Tuesday. For June, the Realtors group said its pending home sales index rose 3.6 percent to 94.6, from an upwardly revised reading of 91.3 in May. The last time there were five consecutive monthly gains was July 2003. The results were far better than analysts expected. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected the index to come in at 91.2. The report tracks signed contracts to purchase previously owned homes and is considered a barometer for future home sales. Typically there is a one- to twomonth lag between a sales contract and a completed deal. The jump in pending home sales coincides with
other positive trends in the residential real estate market. “The housing market is healing and the patient is getting healthier at an accelerating pace,” said economist Joel L. Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors Inc. For the first time in five years, home resales have risen for three months in a row, increasing almost 4 percent in June. Low prices, attractive mortgage rates and a first-time homebuyers tax credit of up to $8,000 have kickstarted sales. “Because housing is so affordable in today’s
market, job security and the first-time buyer tax credit are bigger factors in influencing home sales,” said Lawrence Yun, the Realtors group’s chief economist, in a statement. Yun said he expects existing home sales to gradually rise over the balance of the year, with conditions varying around the country. Regionally, the pending home sales index jumped 7.1 percent to 100.7 in the South and 2.9 percent to 100.4 in the West. The index inched up 0.4 percent to 81.2 in the Northeast, and up 0.8 percent to 89.9 in the Midwest.
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A DAY ON WALL STREET
Dow Jones industrials
9,000 8,000 A
M
Pct. change from previous: +0.36%
J
J
High 9,321.10
MON.-FRI. 9AM - 6PM, SAT. 9 AM - 4 PM • 501 S. CHESTNUT ST. We honor all competitive coupons from other pharmacies.
A
2,000
Nasdaq composite
1,900 1,800 1,700
+2.70 A
M
J
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High 2,015.59
Pct. change from previous: +0.13%
A
1,600
Low 1,993.74 1,000
August 4, 2009
Standard & Poor’s 500
950 900 850
+3.02 1,005.65
7500
Low 9,250.74
August 4, 2009
2,011.31
Listed below are representative interdealer quotations at approximately 4 p.m. Tuesday from the National Association of Securities Dealers. Prices do not include retail mark-up, mark-down or commission.
8,500
+33.63 9,320.19
Stocks
9,500
August 4, 2009
A
M
J
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High 1,007.12
Pct. change from previous: +0.3%
A
800
Low 996.68
SOURCE: SunGard
AP
MARKET ROUNDUP 080409: Market charts show Dow, S&P 500, and urrencies etals Nasdaq; stand-alone; 2c x 4 1/2 inches; 96 mm x 114 mm; staff Aluminum -$0.8925 per lb., N.Y. Merc spot NEW YORK (AP) — Key currency exEditors: All figures as of: 5:25:05 PM EST Tue. change rates Tuesday: NOTE: Figures reflect market fluctuations after not match other AP content close; Coppermay -$2.7790 Cathode full plate, U.S. Dollar vs: ExchgRate PvsDay destinations. Copper $2.7890 N.Y. Merc spot Tue. Yen 95.29 95.31 Lead - $1930.00 metric ton, London Metal Euro $1.4387 $1.4408 Exch. Pound $1.6919 $1.6922 Zinc - $0.8484 per lb., delivered. Swiss franc 1.0614 1.0600 Gold - $960.50 Handy & Harman (only daily Canadian dollar 1.0745 1.0675 quote). Mexican peso 13.1365 13.1205 Gold - $967.50 troy oz., NY Merc spot Tue. Silver - $14.660 Handy & Harman (only Metal Price PvsDay NY Merc Gold $967.50 $956.60 daily quote). Silver - $14.688 troy oz., N.-. Merc spot Tue. NY HSBC Bank US $967.00 $956.00 NY Merc Silver $14.688 $14.245 Mercury - $640.00 per 76 lb flask, N.Y. Platinum -$1222.00 troy oz., N.Y. (contract). Nonferrous Platinum -$1276.80 troy oz., N.Y. Merc spot NEW YORK (AP) — Spot nonferrous metal Tue. prices Tuesday: n.q.-not quoted, n.a.-not available r-revised
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ACS ATT Ball Corp. BankAmerica BB&T Coca-Cola CVS Duke Energy Exxon Ford General Elec. Motors Liquidation Home Depot IBM Johnson & Johnson Kennametal Krispy Kreme Louisiana Pacific Lowes Lucent Tech. Pepsico Phillip Morris Procter & Gamble Progress Energy RF Micro Dev Royal Bk Can RJR Tobacco Revlon Sprint Sun Trust Universal Verizon Comm. Vulcan Wal-Mart Wells Fargo Wendy’s Establis Delhaize
47.45 26.27 48.92 15.64 23.66 49.50 33.98 15.58 70.60 8.30 13.82 0.5061 26.29 119.60 61.06 22.30 3.14 5.17 22.61 3.07 59.06 17.61 55.46 39.03 5.31 48.14 43.94 6.04 4.05 20.77 39.76 31.86 49.57 49.85 26.55 4.80 72.74
Report: Airplane shipments down nearly 46 percent WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A new report from a general aviation trade group says aircraft shipments and billings continue to decline. The General Aviation Manufacturers Association reported Tuesday that total general aviation airplane shipments fell 45.9 percent in the first half of 2009. Manufacturers shipped 1,036 planes from January through June compared with 1,918 in the same period of 2008. Industry billings are down 22.7 percent to $9.26 billion. GAMA president Pete
Bunce said in a news release that layoffs continue and the industry has been forced to slow or halt production lines. Shipments of pistonpowered airplanes were
the hardest hit, down 58 percent. Turboprop shipments fell 13.6 percent, while shipments of business jets declined by 37.9 percent.
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