Duke Energy Droops: Fool by Numbers

On Nov. 3, Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK  ) released third-quarter earnings for the period ended Sept. 30.

• Operating revenues grew 37.8% to $4.2 billion, driven by 53% growth in U.S. franchised Electric and Gas and 537% growth in Commercial Power.
  
• But earnings from continuing operations dropped off 22%.
  
• Cash from operations and free cash flow both grew by 10%.
  
• "With two quarters of combined operations in the books," said CEO James E. Rogers, "The new Duke Energy is making good progress in capturing the savings and realizing the promise of the Cinergy merger."
  
• Our Motley Fool CAPS players are pretty bullish on the stock; it has a four-star rating in our Foolish investment community.

(Figures in millions, except per-share data)

Income Statement Highlights

	Q3 2006	Q3 2005	Change
Sales*	$4,174	$3,028	37.8%
Net Profit*	$717	$924	(22.4%)
EPS*	$0.56	$0.96	(41.7%)
Diluted Shares	1,263	964	31.0%

*From continuing operations.

Get back to basics with a look at the income statement.

Margin Checkup

	Q3 2006	Q3 2005	Change*
Gross Margin	22.2%	29.4%	(7.2)
Operating Margin	28.8%	50.6%	(21.8)
Net Margin	17.2%	30.5%	(13.3)

*Expressed in percentage points.

Margins are the earnings engine. See how they work.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Assets	Q3 2006	Q3 2005	Change
Cash + ST Invest.	$820	$377	117.5%

Liabilities	Q3 2006	Q3 2005	Change
Long-Term Debt	$18,678	$14,547	28.4%

Learn the ways of the balance sheet.

Cash Flow Highlights

	YTD 2006	YTD 2005	Change
Cash From Ops.	$2,752	$2,486	10.7%
Capital Expenditures	$322	$276	16.7%
Free Cash Flow	$2,430	$2,210	10.0%

Find out why Fools always follow the money.

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• E.ON (NYSE: EON  )
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• Dominion Resources (NYSE: D  )
• Southern (NYSE: SO  )
• FPL Group (NYSE: FPL  )

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Fool by Numbers is designed to give you the raw earnings information in a timely fashion, putting all the numbers you need in one easy-to-read place. But at The Motley Fool, we believe numbers tell only part of the story, so checkFool.com for more of our in-depth discussion of what the numbers mean. This data has been provided by Netscribes. To provide feedback on this article, please click on the "feedback" button below.