4th Qtr. Strong Economy: PG&E profit down 79 %, Kaiser loses $211 million

Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal - 8:42 AM PST Friday
Kaiser loses $211 million in fourth quarter

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2006/02/13/daily52.html?f=et79&hbx=e_du

Kaiser Permanente said that overall revenue, capital spending, and membership grew at healthy rates last year, but that the giant HMO system's net income for 2005 was $1 billion, well below 2004's $1.6 billion total.

That means Kaiser's profits stalled in mid-2005, because in early August the Oakland-based system reported first-half profits of $915 million -- or the lion's share of 2005's net income figure.

Kaiser's operating margin for the year ending Dec. 31, 2005 also declined steeply, dropping from 5.3 percent in 2004 to just 2.6 percent last year.

In addition, Kaiser reported, it posted a net loss of $211 million in 2005's fourth quarter. That was a steep decline from the prior year, when fourth-quarter profits were a healthy $302 million, despite the fact that fourth-quarter revenue increased from $7.1 billion in 2004 to $7.9 billion in 2005's final quarter.

Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal - 1:39 PM PST Friday
PG&E profit plunges in fourth quarter

PG&E Corp., the parent of Pacific Gas and Electric Co., on Friday posted a 79 percent drop in fourth-quarter net income. The San Francisco-based company, which serves Silicon Valley, said its profit for the October through December period fell to $180 million, or 49 cents a share, down sharply from $871 million, or $2.04 a share, a year ago.

Revenue for PG&E (NYSE: PCG) jumped 25 percent in the latest period to $3.73 billion from $2.99 billion, well above Wall Street analysts' estimates of $3.1 billion.

In Friday's trading, shares of PG&E edged up 49 cents to $37.65 on the New York Stock Exchange.

For all of 2005, net income came to $917 million, or $2.37 a share, compared with $4.5 billion, or $10.57 a share, a year before. Full-year revenue rose to $11.7 billion from $11.08 billion.

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2006/02/13/daily51.html?f=et79&hbx=e_du