American Water Works Company (AWK) has reported a 56.64 percent jump in profit for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2014. The company has earned $93.50 million, or $0.52 a share in the quarter, compared with $59.69 million, or $0.33 a share for the same period last year. On the other hand, adjusted net income for the quarter stood at $94.13 million, or $0.52 a share compared with $85.88 million or $0.48 a share, a year ago.

Revenue during the quarter grew 3.56 percent to $731.38 million from $706.24 million in the previous year period. Total expenses were 69.50 percent of quarterly revenues, up from 69.16 percent for the same period last year. That has resulted in a contraction of 34 basis points in operating margin to 30.50 percent.

Operating income for the quarter was $223.06 million, compared with $217.80 million in the previous year period.

"The people of American Water continued to execute on our strategy and achieved strong results in 2014," said Susan Story, president and chief executive officer of American Water. "With customers at the center of what we do, we made much-needed and prioritized infrastructure investments to ensure reliable service and meet water quality standards while leveraging technologies and increasing efficiencies to lessen the impact on what our customers pay."

For financial year 2015, the company forecasts diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $2.55 to $2.65 on adjusted basis.

Debt moves up marginally
American Water Works Company has witnessed an increase in total debt over the last one year. It stood at $5,959.34 million as on Dec. 31, 2014, up 1.44 percent or $84.80 million from $5,874.54 million on Dec. 31, 2013. Total debt was 36.94 percent of total assets as on Dec. 31, 2014, compared with 38.98 percent on Dec. 31, 2013. Debt to equity ratio was at 1.21 as on Dec. 31, 2014, down from 1.24 as on Dec. 31, 2013. Interest coverage ratio improved to 2.97 for the quarter from 2.91 for the same period last year.