Progress Energy grows profit as customer count drops in Florida - Tampa Bay Business Journal:

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Progress Energy posted first-quarter earnings of $182 million, or 66 centz per share, down from $209 or 80 cents per in the year-ago period, according to a statement. Analystse polled by estimated earningxs of 61 cents per Increased sales of electricity on the wholesales market helped ProgressEnerggy (NYSE: PGN) boost revenue to $2.44 up from $2.07 billion in the year-ag o quarter. Progress Energy Florida reported earningd of 32 centsper share, up from 26 centsw per share in the year-ago The Florida subsidiary also reported an averagew net loss of 8,00p customers in the first quarter.
Progress Energy’s operatiohn in North Carolina, however, posteds an average net increasesof 18,000 customers. “In the midsyt of this economic slowdown, we delivered solidc financial results in the first quarter by living within our meanzs and aggressively managingour business,” Bill Progress Energy’s chairman, president and chief executivw office, said in a writtenh statement. Strong residential sales in the Carolinas and favorablee wholesale contracts offset the continued weaknessin Florida’s retaiol and industrial sectors, Johnson said.
In othetr related news, Progress Energy Floridsa expects to complete the change over of its Bartoaw plant from oil to naturao gasin June. And it’s continuing to upgrade environmenta l and efficiency work at the CrystalRiver