Edison International profit falls as power prices drop

Edison International, the owner of California’s largest electric utility, said first-quarter profit fell 16% as its Edison Mission Group generating unit sold power at lower prices.

Net income dropped to $250 million, or 76 cents a share, from $299 million, or 91 cents, a year earlier, the Rosemead-based company said Friday. Revenue fell 9.7% to $2.81 billion.

Profit from continuing operations excluding one-time costs for lease terminations was 79 cents a share, 12 cents higher than the average analyst estimate in a Bloomberg survey.

Profit at Edison Mission, which sells power on wholesale markets, plunged 72% to $45 million on lower power prices in the Midwest. That was partly offset by a 39% jump in earnings at the Southern California Edison utility to $208 million after regulators approved a rate increase.

“It looked like a good quarter,” said Paul Fremont, an analyst at Jefferies & Co. in New York. “A lot of it was that the utilities recognized the benefit of the rate increase.”

The company lowered its forecast for 2009 net income to $1.98 to $2.51 a share from an earlier outlook of $2.90 to $3.20 because of costs related to a tax settlement. Edison shares rose 48 cents, or 1.6%, to $30.27.