Avista Corporation (AVA) has reported 7.75 percent rise in profit for the quarter ended Mar. 31, 2017. The company has earned $62.12 million, or $0.96 a share in the quarter, compared with $57.65 million, or $0.92 a share for the same period last year.
Revenue during the quarter grew 4.38 percent to $436.47 million from $418.17 million in the previous year period. Total expenses were 73.56 percent of quarterly revenues, down from 74.63 percent for the same period last year. This has led to an improvement of 107 basis points in operating margin to 26.44 percent.
Operating income for the quarter was $115.39 million, compared with $106.08 million in the previous year period.
"We are off to a good start in 2017, with consolidated earnings above our expectations. Our higher earnings in the first quarter were mainly from increased hydroelectric generation, which put us in a benefit position in the Energy Recovery Mechanism ERM in Washington, and lower than expected operating expenses," said Scott Morris, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Avista Corp.
For fiscal year 2017, the company expects diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $1.80 to $2 on adjusted basis.
Debt moves upAvista Corporation has witnessed an increase in total debt over the last one year. It stood at $1,837.98 million as on Mar. 31, 2017, up 7.20 percent or $123.44 million from $1,714.54 million on Mar. 31, 2016. Total debt was 34.42 percent of total assets as on Mar. 31, 2017, compared with 34.60 percent on Mar. 31, 2016. Debt to equity ratio was at 1.09 as on Mar. 31, 2017, up from 1.08 as on Mar. 31, 2016. Interest coverage ratio deteriorated to 5.02 for the quarter from 5.18 for the same period last year. Disclaimer: Please note that this is an auto-generated article. IRIS does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information. IRIS especially states that it has no financial liability whatsoever to any user on account of the use of information provided on its website. For queries contact: editor@irisindia.net
