Southwest Gas reports net loss for third quarter

Local natural-gas utility Southwest Gas Corp. posted a net loss in the third quarter, the company reported Monday.

The company lost $15.6 million, or 34 cents a share, in the quarter ended Sept. 30. That compares with a loss of $4.8 million, or 11 cents a share, a year earlier.

Company officials blamed the steeper loss mostly on expenses related to a drop in cash-surrender values of company-owned life insurance on key executives. Those expenses cost the company
$6.7 million, or 15 cents a share.

The results fell below analysts' expectations, which Thomson Reuters pegged at a loss of 19.6 cents a share.

Third-quarter revenue increased
15 percent to $352.6 million from
$307.7 million a year earlier.

Improved business within Southwest Gas Corp.'s pipeline construction-services subsidiary helped drive sales.

The replacement of aging infrastructure boosted the construction division, and CEO Jeffrey Shaw said such upgrades "are likely to persist for a number of years."

Southwest Gas also said it added 16,000 net new customers in the last year in a service territory that includes more than 1.8 million customers in Nevada, Arizona and California. The company won't break down customer growth by state until the end of the year.

Southwest Gas released its earnings report after stock markets closed Monday. It ended the day at $40.02 a share on the New York Stock Exchange, up 31 cents, or 0.78 percent, from Friday.

Contact reporter Jennifer Robison at jrobison@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4512.