Edison’s 4th-Quarter Profit Up 17%

Edison International, parent of California’s second-largest electric utility, said fourth-quarter net income rose 17% to $163 million, or 46 cents a share, 2 cents higher than analyst forecasts, mostly on overseas power-plant investments. Revenue rose 12% to $2.62 billion. Edison Mission Energy, the company’s power-plant developer, and Edison Capital, its finance arm, contributed $66 million, or 19 cents a share, to earnings, up from $48 million, or 12 cents, in 1997. Southern California Edison, the company’s electric utility, contributed $115 million, or 33 cents a share, to earnings, unchanged from $115 million, or 31 cents, a year ago, when there were more shares outstanding. Rosemead-based Edison’s retail businesses, which sell electricity and security systems to homes and businesses outside the utility’s Southern California service area, lost 6 cents a share, the same loss it posted a year earlier. California deregulated its electric utilities in March, allowing consumers to choose a different supplier for the first time. Southern California Edison managed to maintain most of its customers at home while expanding electricity sales overseas.