CenterPoint's third-quarter estimate is lower than expected due to higher costs and Beryl-related problems

CenterPoint Energy, an electric and gas utility, reported a third-quarter loss that was below Wall Street expectations due to higher maintenance costs and lower revenues from its electric segment as a result of Hurricane Beryl.

After criticism of its efforts to restore power after Beryl, the company announced that it had appointed Don Daigler as its director of emergency preparedness and response.

Beryl caused major damage to the delivery system of CenterPoint Electric subsidiary Houston Electric after it landed in Texas in July. Nearly 2.3 million CenterPoint Texas customers lost power.

Houston restaurants filed a lawsuit against CenterPoint for more than $100,000,000, claiming incompetence and neglect in the company’s efforts to restore electricity.

CenterPoint's operating and maintenance costs for the third quarter, including expenses related to storm restoration and grid upgrades, increased by nearly 20%, to $775 Million.

Electric revenue for the company fell 1.4% in the third quarter to $1.24billion, mainly due to Beryl-related outages.

According to LSEG data, it posted an adjusted profit per share of 31 cents for the third quarter. This was below analysts' average expectations of 32 cents.

Houston Electric estimated that as of September 30, the total cost of restoring electric delivery facilities was about $1.1 billion. This does not include carrying costs. (Reporting and editing by Shreya Biwas; reporting by Pooja menon)

(source: Reuters)