Constellation Energy Swings To Profits, Exceeds Consensus

Constellation Energy Group (NYSE: CEG) announced that it has swung to first-quarter profits and exceeded the Street view, aided by margin expansion in its retail power operations.

The power company said that its net income for the quarter came in at $191.5 million, or $0.95 a share, up from a net loss of $123.5 million, or $0.62 a share. Excluding special items, CEG’s adjusted earnings came in at $1.43 a share, as compared to $0.74 a share last year. Constellation Energy’s revenues fell 16.5% to $3.59 billion. Analysts had been forecasting earnings of $0.98 a share on revenues of $4.35 billion.

The company, which earlier this month agreed to acquire two natural-gas-fired power facilities in Texas, has reaffirmed its guidance for 2010. CEG has, however, reduced its earnings forecast for FY11 by $0.20 to $3.25-$3.65 a share to reflect the impact of lower forward commodity prices on its generation fleet.

Chief Executive Mayo Shattuck said, "Power prices continued to fall in the first quarter and the magnitude of sharply falling power prices throughout our industry cannot be understated. Therefore, we have adjusted our earnings outlook accordingly."

Constellation Energy’s shares lost 0.02% to $37.55 in after hours.

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