Yahoo Finance PG&E beats quarterly profit view, raises annual forecast
April 25 (Reuters) - Power company PG&E Corp beat Wall Street estimates for first-quarter profit and raised its full-year earnings forecast on Thursday, helped by lower operating expenses, wildfire-related costs and higher tariffs.
Last year, California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) voted on a rise in the utility's base rate case that would raise customer bills by nearly 13%. Utility companies use rate case proceedings to increase consumer electricity prices, asking for a rate increase based on the total service cost.
The company's operating expenses were down 17% to $4.59 billion in the quarter compared to the same quarter a year earlier, partly due to lower fuel costs. Lower costs related to the Wildfire Fund amortization expense also helped the earnings of the company.
In January, the CPUC also approved a $45 million settlement for the utility's part in the destructive 2021 Dixie wildfire, which in 2021 resulted in more than 963,000 acres being burned across multiple counties.
The Oakland, California-based company raised its 2024 GAAP earnings forecast range to $1.15 to $1.20 per share, up from the previous range of $1.10 to $1.14.
On an adjusted basis, PG&E reported a profit of 37 cents per share beating analysts' estimates of 35 cents per share, according to LSEG. PG&E is the parent company of Pacific Gas and Electric Company, an energy company that serves 16 million Californians across a 70,000-square-mile service area in Northern and Central California.
(Reporting by Roshia Sabu in Bengaluru; Editing by Ravi Prakash Kumar)
