Semco third-quarter loss rises slightly from 2001, red ink normal due to seasonal business

Allen Baker, PNA contributing writer

Semco Energy Inc., parent of Enstar in Alaska, reported a net loss for the third quarter of $7 million, slightly larger than the loss of $6.6 million a year ago.

Since the company’s biggest business, natural gas distribution, makes most of its money during the winter, a loss in the summer season is normal.

The slightly bigger loss for the Farmington Hills, Mich., company is due to a decrease in profits from the construction services segment, which brought operating earnings of $0.6 million for the quarter, compared with $3.6 million a year ago. Executives say construction customers are cutting back or delaying projects over concerns about the economy and other factors.

In the core gas distribution segment, the operating loss narrowed to $0.7 million from $1.5 million a year earlier. Semco attributes that to more customers, lower operating expenses, and elimination of goodwill amortization. Semco supplies 377,000 customers in Michigan and Alaska. Revenues for the third quarter were $72.7 million, down 5 percent from the 2001 quarter.