Revenue during the quarter went down marginally by 0.07 percent to $1,016.10 million from $1,016.80 million in the previous year period. Total expenses were 89.03 percent of quarterly revenues, down from 91.95 percent for the same period last year. This has led to an improvement of 292 basis points in operating margin to 10.97 percent.

Operating income for the quarter was $111.50 million, compared with $81.90 million in the previous year period.

"We are building a strong America and have solid momentum going into 2017," said David L. Goodin, president and chief executive officer of MDU Resources. "We successfully completed several strategic moves, including fully exiting from our exploration and production business, the refining business and, more recently, our interest in the Pronghorn natural gas processing plant, which have lowered our business risk profile and positioned us for future growth. “Our continuing operations increased earnings per share by 32 percent in 2016, led by record results at our construction materials business," Goodin said. "As we move into 2017, we expect to build on our momentum through organic growth opportunities, and we are open to strategic acquisitions as they are identified by our construction materials and services and regulated energy delivery businesses. We previously announced our five-year, $1.9 billion capital plan with an additional $300 million available in 2017 and 2018 for high-value projects."

For fiscal year 2017, MDU Resources Group, Inc. expects diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $1.10 to $1.25.