Business

Duke Energy reports a drop in third-quarter net income

JOURNAL STAFF AND WIRE REPORT

Published: October 31, 2009

Updated: 10/31/2009 12:46 am

CHARLOTTE -- Duke EnergyCorp. said yesterday that sales to industrial customers have begun to stabilize.

Although crucial sales to big industrial companies grew 11 percent from the previous quarter, electricity demand remains depressed.

"We have a long way to go to get back to where we were before," said Jim Rogers, Duke's chairman and chief executive.

Duke's report falls in line with predictions from the Energy Information Administration, which said that the drastic declines in electricity use earlier this year would at least begin to slow as 2009 comes to a close.

The company reported net income of $109 million, or 8 cents a share, for its third quarter ended Sept. 30, down from $215 million, or 17 cents a share, for the same period in 2008.

Discounting charges of $400 million, Duke said it would have made 40 cents a share, compared with 33 cents a share in the year-ago quarter.

Revenue fell to $3.4 billion in the quarter from $3.5 billion in the year-ago quarter.