Utility Ameren Corp posts fall in fourth-quarter profit
Feb 22 (Reuters) - Ameren Corp posted a fall in fourth-quarter profit on Thursday, as the utility firm was hit by lower demand for electricity and natural gas.
The St. Louis, Missouri-based company forecast 2024 earnings between $4.52 and $4.72 per share, the mid-point of which is above analysts' estimates of $4.57 per share, according to LSEG.
Demand for electricity and natural gas usually shoots up in the winter months, but milder-than-expected temperatures during the reporting period weighed on the utility.
Electric revenues fell 16% to $1.34 billion during the reported quarter, while natural gas revenues fell about 37% to $275 million.
Higher interest charges also dented Ameren's profits as they rose to $153 million in the fourth-quarter, from $130 million, a year earlier.
The U.S. utility serves 2.4 million electric customers and about 900,000 natural gas customers in a 64,000-square-mile area through its Ameren Missouri and Ameren Illinois rate-regulated utility subsidiaries.
Ameren's net income dropped to $158 million, or 60 cents per share, for the quarter ended Dec. 31, from $163 million, or 63 cents per share, a year earlier.
(Reporting by Roshia Sabu and Vallari Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
