Vectren Details 2Q Earnings

Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowEvansville-based Vectren Corp. (NYSE: VVC) says competition for pipeline maintenance work helped drive profits lower in the second quarter. The utility is reporting net income of $32.3 million, compared to $35.8 million during the same period a year earlier.
Chief Executive Officer Carl Chapman says, despite continuing challenges to the transmission operations, the Energy Services business did well and Infrastructure Services unit’s distribution operations remain "on pace for a solid year."
"Our second quarter results for the utility group were strong and we expect that performance to continue for the balance of the year," he said. "As we discussed during 2015 and so far in 2016, Infrastructure Services’ transmission operation continues to experience increased competition in its primary area of transmission pipeline maintenance work. The increased competition has resulted in lower margins for transmission pipeline maintenance work and fewer jobs being won. As we expected, the second quarter was a challenge for that part of our business, and we expect those challenges to continue throughout 2016. However, we remain confident in the long-term outlook as new pipeline projects are still scheduled to get underway in late 2016 and beyond, which should result in a reduction in competition for this maintenance work."
A bright spot for the future, the company says, is construction activity. Officials expect it to remain strong for the long-term as utilities, municipalities and pipeline operators fix or replace aging pipelines and infrastructure.
You can connect to more about Vectren’s second quarter performance by clicking here.