CHARLOTTE, N.C., Sept. 9 / PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Charlotte-based Piedmont Natural Gas (NYSE: PNY) today announced results for its third quarter ended July 31, 2010.  For the quarter, the Company reported a seasonal loss of $9.5 million or ($0.13) per diluted share compared with a loss of $7.3 million or ($0.10) per diluted share for the same period in 2009.

For the nine months ended July 31, 2010, net income was $151.1 million and diluted earnings per share were $2.08, compared with net income of $127.1 million and diluted earnings per share of $1.73 for the same period in 2009.  Results for the nine months ended July 31, 2010 include the gain on Piedmont's sale of one-half of its 30 percent ownership interest in SouthStar Energy Services (SouthStar) to AGL Resources (AGLR) on January 1, 2010 for $57.5 million. The after-tax gain on the transaction was $30.2 million or $0.42 per diluted share for the nine months. Piedmont retains a 15 percent ownership and earnings interest in SouthStar from and after January 1, 2010.

Utility margin decreased by $2.9 million for the third quarter and by $2.0 million for the nine months ended July 31, 2010 compared to the same periods in 2009.  The decrease in margin is primarily due to period to period changes in adjustments to regulatory gas cost accounts, and for the nine months, partially offset by increased margin due to residential customer growth.

Operations and maintenance expenses increased by $5.2 million for the third quarter and by $10.6 million for the nine months ended July 31, 2010, compared to the same periods in 2009. The increase in O&M expenses for both periods was primarily due to increases in payroll expense and higher pension expense.

Pre-tax income from equity method investments was $2.6 million for the three months ended July 31, 2010, as compared with $3.8 million for the same period in 2009. For the nine months ended July 31, 2010, pre-tax income from equity method investments was $27.7 million compared with $31.4 million for the same period in 2009.  Lower equity method investment income in the quarter was due to lower contributions from SouthStar as a result of lower average customer usage, a change in customer retail pricing plan mix, and fewer average customers.  The decrease for the nine-month period was due primarily to the Company's sale of one half of its ownership interest in SouthStar to AGL Resources on January 1, 2010.

FISCAL 2010 EARNINGS GUIDANCE REAFFIRMED

Piedmont Natural Gas reaffirms its fiscal year 2010 earnings guidance of $1.90 to $2.00 per diluted share. The Company's fiscal year 2010 guidance includes the gain in the first quarter from its sale of one-half of its ownership interest in SouthStar to AGLR, forecasted gross customer additions of 1.0 to 1.2 percent in the Company's utility service areas and forecasted 2010 utility capital expenditures of $224 million, including ongoing pipeline infrastructure expansions to serve new power generation customers in North Carolina.

Conference Call

In conjunction with this third-quarter earnings release, you are invited to listen to the conference call that will be broadcast live over the Internet on Thursday, September 9, 2010, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time, hosted by Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Thomas E. Skains.  Log on to the web at www.piedmontng.com and click on Investors, then on Presentations.  The conference call will be archived on the Presentations page of the website within the Investors section.

Forward-looking Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements are based on management's current expectations and information currently available and are believed to be reasonable and are made in good faith. However, the forward-looking statements are subject to future events, risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the statements. Factors that may make the actual results differ from anticipated results include, but are not limited to, weather conditions, rate of customer growth, the cost and availability of natural gas, competition from other energy providers, new legislation and regulations and application of existing laws and regulations, economic and capital market conditions, the cost and availability of labor and materials and other uncertainties, all of which are difficult to predict and some of which are beyond our control. For these reasons, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements when making investment decisions. The words "expect," "believe," "project," "anticipate," "intend," "should," "could," "will," "assume," "can," "estimate," "forecast," "future," "indicate," "outlook," "plan," "predict," "seek," "target," "would," and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are only as of the date they are made and we do not undertake any obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statement, either as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. More information about the risks and uncertainties relating to these forward-looking statements may be found in Piedmont's latest Forms 10-K and 10-Q, which are available on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov/.

About Piedmont Natural Gas

Piedmont Natural Gas is an energy services company primarily engaged in the distribution of natural gas to more than one million residential, commercial and industrial utility customers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, including 52,000 customers served by municipalities who are wholesale customers. Our subsidiaries are invested in joint venture, energy-related businesses, including unregulated retail natural gas marketing, interstate natural gas storage and intrastate natural gas transportation. More information about Piedmont Natural Gas is available on the Internet at http://www.piedmontng.com/.

SOURCE Piedmont Natural Gas Company

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