California Water Service Group (CWT) has reported 78.01 percent jump in profit for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2016. The company has earned $15.09 million, or $0.31 a share in the quarter, compared with $8.48 million, or $0.18 a share for the same period last year. Revenue during the quarter grew 9.03 percent to $150.93 million from $138.43 million in the previous year period. Total expenses were 85.86 percent of quarterly revenues, down from 89.19 percent for the same period last year. This has led to an improvement of 333 basis points in operating margin to 14.14 percent.
Operating income for the quarter was $21.34 million, compared with $14.96 million in the previous year period.
"Although 2016 was one of the more challenging years in the Company recent history, we achieved many successes," said president and chief executive officer Martin A. Kropelnicki. "The Company key accomplishments included partnering with customers to achieve significant water savings during the California drought; responding effectively to the Erskine fire in Kern River Valley; investing a record $228.9 million to improve and upgrade critical water system infrastructure; increasing the dividend by three percent, which was our 49th consecutive annual increase; and being ranked highest in overall satisfaction among water utilities in the western United States in J.D. Powers’ inaugural water utility residential customer satisfaction survey.
Debt moves up
California Water Service Group has witnessed an increase in total debt over the last one year. It stood at $655.05 million as on Dec. 31, 2016, up 19.61 percent or $107.39 million from $547.66 million on Dec. 31, 2015. Total debt was 27.16 percent of total assets as on Dec. 31, 2016, compared with 24.38 percent on Dec. 31, 2015. Debt to equity ratio was at 0.99 as on Dec. 31, 2016, up from 0.85 as on Dec. 31, 2015. Interest coverage ratio improved to 2.72 for the quarter from 2.02 for the same period last year. Disclaimer: Please note that this is an auto-generated article. IRIS does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information. IRIS especially states that it has no financial liability whatsoever to any user on account of the use of information provided on its website. For queries contact: editor@irisindia.net
