AEP sales fall thanks to a mild summer

American Electric Power posted a decrease in thirdquarter sales Thursday, largely due to a less-thanscorching summer.

The Columbus-based utility said its sales totaled $4.1 billion, down from $4.7 billion in the prior-year quarter.

Third-quarter net income was $544.7 million, up from a loss of $765.8 million a year earlier. The prior-year loss was almost entirely because of a one-time charge related to the value of certain power plants.

Excluding one-time items, third-quarter profit was $543.1 million, down from

$639.7 million.

The company’s shares changed little on the news, closing up 18 cents, or 0.2 percent, at $73.76.

“In the last 35 years, only 1992 had milder temperatures than what we’ve experienced in the first nine months of 2017,” said Nick

Akins, AEP’s chairman, president and CEO, in a statement.

AEP’s results were hurt in part because they were being compared with an unusually warm quarter last year.

In fact, the temperature in much of the company’s territory was close to average for the past few months, said Bob Smerbeck, a senior meteorologist for AccuWeather in State

College, Pennsylvania.

“The only place that was hit (with warmerthan-normal weather) was in the West,” he said.

AEP’s sales and profit were less than analysts were expecting.

Akins said AEP is seeing economic growth throughout its 11-state service territory.

“For the first time since 2011, all of our states have exited recession conditions and are now in economic recovery,” he said. “We experienced industrial sales growth again this quarter across most industries and operating companies, and this industrial growth should positively impact residential and commercial sales in the coming months.”