PG&E profits plunge during fourth quarter while utility confronts wildfire costs

PG&E’s profits nose-dived during the fourth quarter of 2017, a three-month period that included the lethal wildfires that scorched the North Bay wine country and nearby areas, the embattled utility reported Friday.

Over the final three months of 2017, PG&E earned $327 million from its operations, or 63 cents a share, which was down 51.6 percent from the operating results of the same period the year before. Wall Street had predicted profits of 68 cents a share. The operating profits included certain one-time items that aren’t expected to recur.

San Francisco-based PG&E also jolted investors when it declined to provide any guidance for profits during 2018.

“Uncertainty related to the October 2017 Northern California wildfires” was the primary reason for the lack of any outlook for PG&E.

The company’s shares tumbled in early-session trades.

PG&E incurred costs of $82 million connected with the the deadly Northern California infernos during the October-through-December quarter of 2017, the utility said.

“Efforts to work with policy makers and others to develop comprehensive solutions to the significant challenges resulting from the devastating Northern California wildfires” will be a top priority for PG&E, Geisha Williams, the company’s chief executive officer, said in a prepared release.

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