Utility company Duke Energy Corp (NYSE:DUK) missed earnings expectations as it calculated a total cost of between $2.4 billion and $2.9 billion to restore facilities damaged by three consecutive hurricanes, including the powerful Helene and Milton.
The power giant, which serves 8.4 million customers in North and South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, saw 5.5 million customer power outages after hurricanes Helene, Debby and Milton damaged transmission lines and other infrastructure.
Duke reported third-quarter earnings per share of $1.62, worse than the average Wall Street estimate of $1.74, though revenue of $8.15 billion beat the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion.
It said lower third-quarter results were driven by storm costs, higher interest expenses, a higher tax rate and depreciation on its asset base, which was only partially offset by growth from rate increases and 'rider' charges.
EPS guidance was reaffirmed for the full-year although Duke said it would be "trending towards the lower half" of the $5.85 to $6.10 range.
Chair and CEO Lynn Good said she was "proud of the remarkable response from our employees and utility partners to a historic storm season".
She work was completed "around the clock to restore 5.5 million outages as quickly and safely as possible and rebuilt large portions of our system in a matter of days" and the company is "well positioned for a strong finish to the year".
Shares in Duke, which hit an all-time high above $121 last month, were little moved in pre-market trading on Thursday at $114.