UNITIL REPORTS HIGHER ‘DECOUPLED’ EARNINGS
Unitil Corp. reported about $500,000 in earnings, or 3 cents a share, in the third quarter — an earnings report in which it mainly “decoupled” its profits by how much gas and electricity it sold in New Hampshire, according to financial filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Utilities and their regulators are increasingly moving toward decoupling for several reasons. It smooths the effects of weather on the volume and price of energy on revenue from the company’s bottom line. Decoupling also removes the incentive to push more power at the expense of renewable alternatives and energy efficiency. Instead, the company’s rate of return is now aligned with meeting revenue targets.
Sales were relatively flat. Unitil only distributed 1 percent more electricity than the same quarter last year and less gas by 1.8 percent. But energy prices drove revenue up by 10.2 percent for electricity and 1.9 percent for gas.
Year-to-date, electricity revenues have gone up 27 percent and gas 31.2 percent. Profits were nil in the third quarter of 2021, whereas now net income this year was about $500,000.
The company’s net income is also up slightly, $1.68 million from $1.42 million.
Unitil’s revenues will go up even more in the fourth quarter, thanks to a 77 percent rate increase approved Oct. 1 by the Public Utilities Commission that goes into effect Dec. 1.
Unitil declared a monthly quarterly stock dividend of 39 cents per share, making the annual dividend thus far $1.56.
RE/MAX INNOVATIVE PROPERTIES EXPANDS
The RE/MAX Bayside offices in Meredith and Laconia have been acquired by the broker/owners of Londonderry-based RE/MAX Innovative Properties, which has offices that serve southern New Hampshire and northeastern Massachusetts.
RE/MAX Innovative Properties owners Josh Naughton, Hollie Halverson and Andrew White said they will continue to operate the Meredith offices as RE/MAX Bayside.
Chris Kelly, who founded the Meredith firm in 2008 and grew it to 21 agents, will stay on as an agent under the new ownership.
Between August 2021 and August 2022, RE/MAX Bayside associates sold nearly 300 units and more than $116 million in volume, Naughton noted.
With the acquisition of RE/MAX Bayside, Naughton now has eight offices and 125 agents. The group combined to transact over 1,200 units for nearly $550 million in sales in the 12-month period starting Sept. 1, 2021, he said.
ALBANY INTERNATIONAL’S REVENUE RISES 12%
Albany International Corp.’s revenue went up by 12 percent, in the third quarter, despite a Boeing backlog and supply chain issues. Profits would have risen too, if not for a one-time pension settlement that cost the company nearly $50 million, The Rochester based company reported.
All told, Albany reported revenue of $261 million for the quarter ending Sept. 30, with a profit of about $10.8 million — just under a third of the amount it earned in the same quarter last year. For stockholders, that means a 34-cents-ashare profit.
Beginning 2018, Albany stepped up its defense contracting to find another market for its LEAP engine parts after Boeing was forced to ground its 737 MAX airliner following a recurring software failure that caused the deaths of 346 in two separate crashes. However, the company’s Engineer Components division now sells half its wares to defense firms, so the pivot paid off as revenues rose 42 percent.
Its Machine Clothing division, used to make the equipment that produces paper among other things, went up a modest 4 percent.
As for the profit decline, it was due to a $49.1 million one-time expense to essentially buy annuities for employees to replace a costly pension plan.
Year-to-date, Albany has reported revenues of $766 million, an 11 percent increase, resulting in $78 million profits, or $2.41 cents a share, down by 41 cents.
