Duke Energy credited a diverse portfolio for insulating it fromthe energy industry’s downturn. The company reported 1998 thirdquarter basic earnings of $1.18/share, up 42% from 83 cents/sharefor the same quarter in 1997. Duke posted earnings of $423.8million for the third quarter, compared to $298.4 million for thesame quarter in 1997. Overall earnings before interest and taxes(EBIT) for the third quarter of 1998 was $870.9 million versus$632.2 million for the third quarter of 1997.

The company cited two main factors for the increase. In ElectricOperations, overall electric sales rose 7.8%. In Energy Services,EBIT rose 110% from last year’s quarter. In that unit, improvedresults from Duke Energy’s Global Asset Development and Duke EnergyTrading and Marketing more than offset lower margins posted by DukeEnergy Field Services due to lower natural gas liquids prices.

“During the third quarter, we continued to execute our strategyto develop regional centers of energy assets. We also leveragedDuke Energy’s strong, diverse portfolio of assets,” said Richard B.Priory, CEO. “In the energy business, many external forces canaffect revenues. The diversity of our portfolio provides someoffsets so that negative factors for one line of business can bepositive for another.”

EBIT at Duke’s gas transmission operations rose 32% to $177.7million, versus $134.6 million for last year’s quarter. Earningswere affected by the resolution of Texas Eastern Transmission’s gassupply realignment costs, which added $39 million to third quarterresults. Also in the quarter, Texas Eastern received approval fromthe Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for its Customer RateInitiative plan that will reduce customer rates and will make thepipeline more competitive in the future. “With these legal andregulatory issues behind us in our Natural Gas Transmission area,we can now focus our total efforts on providing better results tocustomers and shareholders,” said Priory.

In Energy Services, EBIT for the quarter was $78.8 millioncompared to $37.5 million reported for last year’s quarter.Although lower gas liquids prices resulted in lower margins forDuke Field Services, other business units showed better results.

In Electric Operations, warm summer weather led to an increaseof overall electric sales. Sales to residential customers accountedfor much of the increase, rising 13% for the quarter. Commercialand general service usage rose 8%. Industrial sales fell 1.8% forthe quarter.

©Copyright 1998 Intelligence Press, Inc. All rightsreserved. The preceding news report may not be republished orredistributed in whole or in part without prior written consent ofIntelligence Press, Inc.