NRG Energy 3Q profit plunges 64 pct

NRG Energy 3rd-qtr earnings tumble 64 percent on higher costs, items

• On 11:02 am EDT, Thursday October 29, 2009

PRINCETON, N.J. (AP) -- Power plant owner NRG Energy Inc. said its third-quarter profit plunged 64 percent, partly on higher operating costs.

Maintenance and unplanned outages, primarily in Texas, contributed to lower generation and higher operating costs, damaging the latest results, the company said.

Shares of NRG fell 79 cents, or 3.2 percent, to $24.02 in morning trading.

Earnings tumbled to $272 million, or $1.02 per share, in the July-Septembner period compared with $765 million, or $2.81 per share, a year ago.

Recently-acquired Reliant Energy contributed $393 million in income. Even so, that was not enough to push results above prior-year earnings, which were boosted by an $824 million pretax hedging gain.

Results from the most-recent quarter also reflected one-time charges of $21 million for Exelon defense costs and $6 million related to the Reliant acquisition.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated a profit of $1.14 per share, on average. Analysts typically exclude one-time items.

Revenue rose 12 percent to $2.92 billion from $2.61 billion a year ago. The average of analysts' forecast was for revenue of $2.18 billion.