Gas and electric provider Northeast Utilities posted higher earnings in the first quarter and affirmed its profit outlook for the rest of the year.
NU, parent of Connecticut Light & Power and Yankee Gas Co. Â earned $97.7 million, or 60 cents a share, in the three months ended March 31. A year earlier, NU earned $58.4 million, or 38 cents a share.
NU Chairman and CEO Charles W. Shivery attributed the improvement to the company’s continued investment in its regulated transmission and distribution infrastructure. Â
In the first three months of 2009, NU’s capital expenditures totaled $183 million. NU, which is preparing to move headquarters from Berlin to downtown Hartford, continues to project capital expenditures of $921 million for the full year of 2009.
NU affirmed its 2009 earnings guidance of between $1.80 per share and $2.00 per share, and said it will likely earn toward the lower end of that range primarily due to the earlier timing and greater than anticipated size of its equity issuance.
