A rate increase aided second quarter and first half earnings at Artesian Resources.
The Newark area company reported that revenue for the second quarter of 2012 was $17.9 million, an 8.5 percent increase from the $16.5 million in revenues recorded for the same three-month period a year earlier.
Net income for the second quarter of 2012 was $2.7 million, an increase of $1 million, from the same period last year.
Operating expenses, excluding depreciation and income taxes, decreased slightly during the quarter, and the ratio of operating expense, excluding depreciation and income taxes, to total revenue fell to 54.8% for the three months ended June 30, 2012, compared to 59.6 percent for the same time period of 2011.
Artesian increased its investments in utility infrastructure during the first six months of 2012 to $10 million, compared to $6.6 million during the same period of 2011.
Through the first six months of 2012, Artesian has posted net income of $5.3 million, a $2.5 million increase from the same period of 2011. Revenue during the first six months of 2012 grew by 10.7 percent to $34.6 million.
“Last year our earnings were depressed,” said Artesian CEO Dian C. Taylor. “At this time last year, we did not have regulatory approval to begin recovery of the $41.8 million we had invested over the previous three years for necessary water utility plant improvements and equipment. Since then, we obtained regulatory approval to begin recovery of our investments, added more than 1,900 customers in Maryland and Delaware and continued our tight control over expenses.”
Artesian has operations in all three Delaware counties and Cecil County, Md. It’s largest service area is suburban New Castle County, Del.
