Unitil posts 3Q loss of $600,000

Regional utility company Unitil posts third-quarter loss as electricity revenue falls

• On 6:10 pm EDT, Friday October 23, 2009

HAMPTON, N.H. (AP) -- Regional utility company Unitil Corp. said Friday it posted a loss in the third quarter as its electricity revenue fell.

The company lost $600,000, or 6 cents per share, in the quarter that ended Sept. 30. That compares with a profit of $1.5 million, or 27 cents per share, it earned a year earlier.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected no profit.

Electricity revenue fell 4.5 percent to $435.1 million from $455.7 million.

Gas revenue of $22.4 million was more than six times the $3.7 million in revenue from the same period a year earlier.

Chief Executive Robert G. Schoenberger said the company has started to see the benefit of its acquisitions of Northern Utilities and the Granite State pipeline.

Unitil, based in Hampton, N.H., provides natural gas service to customers in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

Shares fell 40 cents to $22.53 on Friday.