Empire announces 3Q results, stock offering

Joplin-based Empire District Electric Co. declared its third-quarter results and a stock dividend Thursday, along with a plan to sell additional stock as part of its equity distribution program.

The company posted third-quarter earnings of $14.8 million, or 43 cents per share, down 27 percent from the $20.2 million or 59 cents per share in the same quarter of 2008.

Empire officials cited extremely mild weather during the third quarter, which lowered electric kilowatt-hour sales and resulting electric revenues compared to the same time last year. Cooler temperatures this summer - a period the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Association says was one of the coolest in recorded history for Empire's coverage area - may have decreased revenues by nearly $11 million for the quarter, according to the earnings release.

Empire also announced a 32-cent-per-share dividend on the company's common stock, payable Dec. 15 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 1.

In a separate release, the utility announced an increase in offerings of its common stock from $60 million to $120 million as part of a previously announced equity distribution program.

The funds raised from the additional stock offering will go toward repaying short-term debt and general business, including the utility's current construction program.

Shares of Empire stock (NYSE: EDE) closed Thursday at $18.50, compared to a 52-week range of $11.92 to $19.68. Shares were trading down at $18.25 as of 10:30 a.m.