San Diego-based Sempra Energy reported third quarter earnings today of $268 million or $1.09 per diluted share, compared to $289 million or $1.20 per share in the same period last year.
Third quarter 2012 results included a $60 million charge for Sempra's twenty-five percent stake in the Rockies Express Pipeline. The majority owner of the natural gas pipeline, Kinder Morgan, is reportedly selling its share, affecting the value of the facility.
Sempra reported its third quarter earnings would have beaten last year's mark if not for the write-down.
For the first nine months of the year, Sempra Energy earned $566 million, or $2.31 per diluted share. That compares to $1 billion, or $4.32 per diluted share, in the first three quarters of 2011.
"Our solid operating performance in the third quarter and through the first nine months keeps us on track to meet our 2012 earnings-per-share guidance of $4 to $4.30, excluding the impairment charges and assuming a final California Public Utilities Commission rate decision for our California utilities comes by year-end," said Sempra CEO Debra Reed.
Net income for San Diego Gas & Electric in the third quarter of this year rose to $174 million from $113 million in the same period last year, mainly because of lower taxes, higher transmission earnings and reduced expenses related to the 2007 wildfires.
For the first nine months of 2012, SDG&E's earnings were $374 million, up from $273 million in the first nine months last year.
