THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 19, 1994 TAG: 9407190385
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By TOM SHEAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
Dominion Resources Inc., which recently benefited from the sale of natural-gas reserves in Alabama, said Monday that its second-quarter net income jumped 32 percent on a 10 percent increase in revenues.
The Richmond-based parent company of Virginia Power said it earned $136.2 million in the second quarter, up from the $103.1 million for those three months of 1993. Earnings per common share were 80 cents, a 27 percent increase from 63 cents a year earlier.
Dominion's revenues for the April-through-June period totaled $1.11 billion. That compared with $1.01 billion in last year's second quarter.
The public sale of 6.85 million units in its Black Warrior Trust, which provided investors with natural-gas royalties and federal tax credits, generated a one-time gain of 17 cents per share in the second quarter.
Meanwhile, its other non-utility operations contributed 9 cents per share to the company's second-quarter earnings, said William C. Hall Jr., a Dominion spokesman. In the second quarter of 1993, non-utility operations accounted for 8 cents per share.
But income from the Virginia Power subsidiary slipped to 54 cents per share in the recent quarter from 55 cents in the year-earlier period, Dominion said.
``The power company's earnings contribution was down slightly because of higher operating expenses offset only slightly by higher revenues,'' the holding company said.
Kilowatt-hour sales at Virginia Power rose 5.7 percent in the June 30 quarter, partly because of a 6.6 percent rise in electricity sales to industrial customers.
Dominion's board of directors has been badly split over the management direction of Virginia Power and the pace at which the utility should cut costs. Differences between two factions has provoked an investigation by state regulators.
For the six months through June 30, Dominion said its net income climbed 23 percent on an 8 percent rise in revenues. The company reported net income of $277.6 million, compared with $225.6 million for the first half of 1993. Per-share earnings were $1.64 versus $1.37. Revenues for the period totaled $2.28 billion, up from $2.11 billion in the same six months of 1993. by CNB