TEP parent posts higher profit despite lower sales

Apr 29 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - David Wichner The Arizona Daily Star, Tucson

 

Tucson-based UNS Energy Corp. posted higher first-quarter profits despite lower sales at Tucson Electric Power Co., thanks to a rate increase that went into effect last year.

UNS Energy -- the target of a pending buyout by Canadian utility giant Fortis Inc. -- on Monday reported first quarter 2014 net income of $15 million, or 37 cents per share, compared with net income of $11 million, or 27 cents per share, in the first quarter of 2013.

TEP's retail power sales fell 6.2 percent in the first quarter of 2014, due mostly to mild winter weather.

TEP posted net income of $9 million in the first quarter of 2014 compared with net income of $1 million in the same period last year, due to the higher rates approved last year and a decrease in capital lease interest expense, partially offset by higher maintenance expenses.

In December, UNS Energy's board approved a merger agreement with Fortis, Canada's largest investor-owned gas and electric utility. The merger was approved in March by UNS Energy shareholders and earlier this month by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. State hearings on the deal are planned for June.

The merger agreement calls for Fortis to acquire all of the outstanding common stock of UNS Energy for $60.25 per share in cash. The company's stock closed Monday at $60 per share in trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

azstarnet.com

http://www.energycentral.com/functional/news/news_detail.cfm?did=32309816&