Public Service Enterprise Group, parent of PSE&G, New Jersey’s largest publicly traded energy company, reported Wednesday that first-quarter net earnings were $1.18 per share, up from $1.06 a year ago. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to $1.43 per share. Those results trailed the average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research of $1.46 per share. Net income rose 10.7% to $589 million from $532 million from the same quarter a year ago.
The Newark company reported revenue for the period rose 16.7% to $3.22 billion. That topped the estimate of three Zacks analysts of $2.85 billion.
“PSEG delivered a solid operating and financial performance to begin the year. Our service territory experienced multiple cold spells in January and February with temperatures remaining below 20°F for several days in a row, prompting the highest winter peak load for both gas and electric in the last six years. During these challenging conditions, our electric and gas operations maintained high levels of reliability and efficient customer response times,” said Ralph LaRossa, PSEG’s chair, president and CEO, before the earnings call this morning.
Shares of the company were down 3.9% to $78.44 as of 10:29 am. They were down 6.9% year to date.
PSE&G’s results for the first quarter reflect new electric and gas base distribution rates in effect for a full quarter following the October 15, 2024, implementation date. This increase in revenue reflected over $3 billion of investments made in the electric and gas systems over the past several years.
Public Service Enterprise Group also declared a first-quarter common stock dividend of 63 cents per share.
The energy company expects full-year earnings in the range of $3.94 to $4.06 per share.
The company operates New Jersey’s largest transmission and distribution utility, serving about 2.4 million electric and 1.9 million natural gas customers.
