Allegheny Energy (AYE) has beaten the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate of 55 cents by four cents to clock earnings per share of 59 cents in the third quarter of fiscal 2009. Allegheny Energy also crossed the year-ago EPS by five cents due to improved result from its Delivery & Services business. Earnings rose to $31.5 million from $4.3 million in the year-ago quarter. The improvement was due to increased cost recovery in Virginia , the elimination of an inter-company transfer payment and higher revenues from transmission expansion. These benefits were partially offset by lower retail electricity sales and higher income taxes, primarily due to an increase in pre-tax income. However this was partially offset by lower earnings at the Generation and Marketing business. Here, earnings fell to $45.5 million from $84.7 million in the year-ago quarter due to a tepid economy and low power prices. Earnings ...

Allegheny Energy Inc. (AYE) yesterday scaled down its proposed rate hike in Virginia . Earlier, in April 2009, the company had asked for $22.6 million rate hike, which it has now scaled down by $3.2 million to a $19.4 million. Allegheny has proposed the hike before the Virginia State Corporation Commission to recover its cost of purchased power.  For a residential customer with a monthly consumption of 1,000 kilowatt-hours of power, Allegheny's original proposal would have increased the bill by $5.47 to $96. The scaled-down proposal would result in a monthly bill of $94. Headquartered in Greensburg , Pennsylvania , Allegheny Energy is an electric utility company with over $3 billion in annual revenues.  The company is engaged in both regulated electricity and natural gas distribution utility operations as well as in unregulated wholesale energy markets. It owns and operates generating facilities and serves electricity to ...

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Columbia Banking System, Inc. (Nasdaq: COLB) expects to report third quarter 2009 financial results on Thursday, October 29, 2009 at 6:15 a.m. PDT. Management will discuss these results on a conference call scheduled for that afternoon at 1:00 p.m. PDT (4:00 p.m. EDT). Interested parties may listen to this discussion by calling 1-888-318-7969; Conference ID code #34709998.

Ballantyne Strong, Inc. (NYSE Amex: BTN), a provider of digital cinema projection equipment and services, cinema screens and other cinema products

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Integral Systems, Inc., (Nasdaq: ISYS) today announced its continued partnership with the US Air Force on the Rapid Attack, Identification, Detection and Reporting System Block-10 (RAIDRS RB-10) program. On September 25, the US Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center obligated $27,740,754 to implement the restructure of the program from a 6 fixed and 3 deployable site configuration, to a 5 transportable system construct. The Air Force has approved the system restructure under a contract modification with a ceiling

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Allegheny Energy, Inc. (AYE) recently announced that its unregulated power generation subsidiary Allegheny Energy Supply Company, LLC (AE Supply) bagged a new $1 billion senior unsecured revolving credit facility with a three-year maturity. Allegheny plans to use the money from the new credit facility for general corporate purposes and capital expenditure for its unregulated plants. The new credit facility will increase and replace AE Supply’s existing $400 million revolving credit facility, which was scheduled to mature in May 2011. The withdrawals under this credit facility will bear interest that is calculated based on the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) along with a margin based on AE Supply’s senior unsecured credit rating. As of now the margin on LIBOR-based loans is 3.5%. Allegheny is focused on strengthening its liquidity position and improve its financial flexibility by reducing interest burden. The company in recent times has concentrated on ...

Recently, the world’s largest specialty metals producer Allegheny Technologies Inc. (ATI) bought the assets of Crucible Compaction Metals and Crucible Research for $40.95 million following a bankruptcy court auction. The transaction is expected to close by Oct. 31. The company did not provide further details.

The acquired units belonged to Syracuse, New York-based Crucible Materials Corp. The company, which runs a research center and a plant in Pittsburgh, had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware in May, after being severely hurt by a weak automotive industry.

Earlier this month, Allegheny had also agreed to supply nickel-based superalloy disc-quality products for commercial jet engine applications to Rolls-Royce Plc as part of a 10-year contract. The agreement covers products sold by Allegheny’s subsidiary ATI Allvac to first tier suppliers (forgers) of Rolls-Royce. Allegheny expects revenue of $750 million to $1 billion from the contract.

Allegheny offers specialty metals

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Allegheny Energy (AYE) yesterday announced that its unregulated generation subsidiary Allegheny Energy Supply Company LLC (AE Supply) will issue $600 million aggregate principal amount of senior unsecured notes.  Of the $600 million notes to be issued, $350 million notes come with a coupon rate of 5.75% due 2019. The rest $250 million notes come with a coupon rate of 6.75% notes due 2039. The company anticipates the notes offering to be completed by Oct 1, 2009.  AE Supply will use the proceeds from the $600 million issue to repay a term loan of $447 million and refinance $150 million of its outstanding notes due 2011. The existing notes come with a dearer coupon rate of 7.80%.  The company is focused on cleaning its balance sheet and reduce interest burden by refinancing debt with lower interest rates. AE Supply’s proactive role in debt reduction has already reduced the ...

On Sep 8, Allegheny Technologies Incorporated (ATI), one of the largest and the most diversified specialty metals producers in the world, signed a ten-year agreement with Rolls-Royce plc, the British aircraft engine maker for the supply of nickel-based superalloy disc-quality products for commercial jet engine applications. The agreement covers products sold by ATI Allvac, a subsidiary of Allegheny Technologies, to Rolls- Royce first tier suppliers (forgers).  The Downtown Pittsburgh-based company anticipates revenue of $750 million to $1 billion from the contract. The work associated with the new contract will be performed at Allegheny Technologies new Baker, North Carolina , titanium and superalloy forging facility, scheduled to be completed this year. The North Carolina project is in addition to Allegheny Technologies pre-construction permitting for its $1.2 billion hot strip mill and processing facility at its Brackenridge complex. Production at the Brackenridge complex is expected to begin in 2012. ...

Allegheny Energy (AYE) recently appealed to the Public Service Commission of West Virginia for a base rate (covers non-fuel costs of the utility) increase of $122 million. The proposed increase, if approved, will generate a return on equity (ROE) of 12.25% for the company.

This base-rate increase, which will be Allegheny’s first since 1994, will help the company to cover rising business costs and maintain financial stability at its West Virginia operations. Following the raise, bills for residential customers using 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per month would rise by about 14% to $95 from current charges of $83.

Allegheny will continue to benefit from its stable and regulated electric power operations. The positive investment factors for the company include higher generation rates in Pennsylvania and Maryland, increased residential usage, approvals for transmission projects and steady progress with scrubbers.

However, growing environment-related capital expenditures, emission and hedging costs,

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Allegheny Energy (AYE) yesterday announced that its unregulated generation subsidiary Allegheny Energy Supply Co., LLC (AE Supply) will purchase for cash up to $220 million principal amount from its medium term notes. The offer will expire on Sept 4.   The $220 million to be paid off is to be sourced from two debts. Of the $650 million outstanding notes due 2012 with a coupon rate of 8.25%, AE Supply plans to retire a maximum of $160 million. While from the $400 million outstanding notes due 2011 with a coupon rate of 7.80%, the company plans to retire a maximum of $100 million.   Headquartered in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, Allegheny is engaged in both regulated electricity and natural gas distribution utility operations as well as in the unregulated wholesale energy markets. The company operates through two business segments: the low margin Delivery & Services and the high margin Generation ...