Pike Electric Corp fka PIKE

[SeriousMoney]

Pike Electric Reports First Quarter Fiscal 2006 Results: Storm Restoration Demand High; Powerline Revenues Up 14%
PR, Thursday November 10, 6:30 am ET

MOUNT AIRY, N.C., Nov. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pike Electric Corporation (NYSE: PEC - News), one of the nation's largest providers of outsourced electric distribution and transmission services, today announced its financial results for the fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2005.

First Quarter Results

For the first quarter, revenues decreased slightly to $218.4 million from $220.4 million for the same quarter a year ago. This decrease was due to a $17.6 million reduction in storm revenue, which was offset by an increase of $15.6 million in powerline revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2006 compared to the same period in the prior year. Storm revenues represented 43.3% of revenues for the quarter compared to 50.9% in the prior year. Pike Electric experienced record storm restoration revenues in the prior year's first quarter as a result of four major Florida storms. In the first fiscal quarter of 2006 storm restoration revenues were driven by Tropical Storm Cindy and Hurricanes Dennis, Katrina and Rita. Also in the quarter, powerline revenues were $123.8 million, a 14.4% increase over powerline revenues of $108.2 million in the quarter a year ago as a result of strong demand for our services.

First quarter net income totaled $17.5 million, or $0.58 per diluted share, compared to net income of $24.2 million, or $0.67 per diluted share, for the first quarter of the prior year. The reduction in net income is primarily the result of a lower level of storm revenues in the current year and increased labor, fuel and equipment costs.

"Our first quarter results, both last year and in the current year, illustrate the earnings capacity of our business in periods of extraordinary demand for our services," said J. Eric Pike, chairman and chief executive officer. "We are optimistic about our prospects for the remainder of fiscal 2006 as we continue to leverage our industry leading position. We intend to do this by capitalizing on the continuing industry trends of customer outsourcing and, distribution and transmission upgrade requirements and also by gaining market share through operational excellence and our storm restoration efforts."

Outlook

"We exceeded our previous storm revenue estimates for the year and now expect storm revenues for the fiscal year to be between $115 - $125 million, which is significantly ahead of our expected average annual storm revenue of $30 million per year," Mr. Pike said. "We cannot accurately predict our storm revenues in terms of which quarter they will occur or the level of revenues generated from storm events. We continue to expect to grow revenues and earnings at or near double digit levels over the long term, while maintaining our industry-leading operating margins."

Conference Call

Pike Electric's conference call to discuss its first quarter results is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. EST today, November 10, 2005. This call will be available live and by replay over the Internet at http:///www.pike.com in the Investor Relations section.

About Pike Electric

Pike Electric is one of the largest providers of outsourced electric distribution and transmission services in the United States. Our core activities consist of the maintenance, upgrade and extension of electric distribution and sub-500 kilovolt transmission powerlines for more than 150 electric utilities, cooperatives and municipalities. Pike Electric services a contiguous 19-state region that stretches from Pennsylvania in the north to Florida in the southeast and Texas in the southwest and is a recognized leader in storm restoration services. Our common stock is quoted on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol PEC. For further information regarding Pike Electric, visit the company's website at www.pike.com

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