NRG 2Q profit more than triples

NRG Energy Inc. on Thursday reported that its second-quarter profit more than tripled from a year ago, helped by its acquisition of Reliant Energy's retail operations in Texas and the sale of a German mining business.

NRG, which just fended off a hostile takeover attempt by Exelon Corp. that would have created the nation's largest power generator, said it made $433 million, or $1.56 per share, for the quarter ended June 30, compared with profit of $127 million, or 48 cents per share, in the year ago quarter.

Revenue rose 70 percent to $2.2 billion from $1.3 billion in the year-ago quarter.

NRG said Reliant Energy contributed $233 million in after-tax income in its first two months of ownership, in part because warm weather drove sales.

NRG completed the $287.5 million acquisition of Reliant Energy's Texas retail business, which provides electricity service to more than 1.7 million customers, on May 1.

The company also netted $128 million during the quarter from the sale of Mibrag BV to J&T Finance Group AS and CEZ AS, both based in the Czech Republic. NRG owned the company with engineering-services company URS Corp.

The company recorded a $168 million gain in the year-ago quarter ago on the sale of its Brazilian operating subsidiary, Itiquira Energetica SA.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected NRG to make 74 cents a share on revenue of $2.1 billion. The results typically exclude one-time gains such as the sale of Mibrag.

NRG shares rose $1.07, or 4 percent, to $27.55 in trading Thursday afternoon. The shares have traded between $14.39 and $39.24 over the past year.

The company said improvements in profit came even as demand for electricity fell because of the recession, unseasonably cool weather in the Northeast and low natural gas prices.

The company's board increased the share buyback program from the existing $330 million to $500 million. The company plans to buy the shares over the year.

For the first half of 2009, NRG said it made $631 million, or $2.27 per share, compared with $176 million, or 63 cents per share, from the same period of 2008. Revenue rose to $3.9 billion from $2.6 billion.

NRG's power plants provide more than 24,000 megawatts of generation capacity, enough to supply more than 20 million homes. Its Reliant Energy business serves 1.6 million customers in Texas.