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Investor Info 2004 For Immediate
Release: Contact:
Donald L. Correll., President and Chief Executive Officer Pennichuck
Corporation Announces First Quarter 2004 (Nashua, NH) -- Donald L. Correll, President and Chief Executive Officer of Pennichuck Corporation, announced today that for the first three months of 2004 the Company incurred a net loss of $21,000, or $.01 per share, compared to net income of $147,000, or $.06 per share for the same quarter in 2003. Mr. Correll indicated that, among things, the results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2004 was adversely impacted by approximately $251,000 of legal and other costs relating to the City of Nashua's ongoing eminent domain efforts. The Company's consolidated revenues for the first quarter of 2004 were $4.8 million, representing a $63,000 decrease from the same quarter in 2003. Mr. Correll noted that last year's revenues included approximately $257,000 from the sale of a tract of land in Merrimack, New Hampshire. However, the combined revenues of the Company's three utilities increased slightly from $4.05 million in the first quarter of 2003 to $4.22 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2004, a 4.1% increase. He attributed that increase principally to a 2% growth in new customers, especially in the utilities' outlying community water systems. Despite the modest growth in utility revenues, the 2004 first quarter combined operating income of the utilities declined by 12% to $595,000, principally due to increased maintenance expenses and other costs relating to the utilities' investment in new plant over the past year. Mr. Correll pointed out that none of the costs relating to the City of Nashua's eminent domain efforts have been charged or allocated to the Company's three utilities. Revenues from the Company's non-regulated water service business increased to $463,000 for the quarter ended March 31, 2004 compared to $344,000 in the same period last year. The increase in contract revenues over the same period last year is principally due to additional work performed under the two largest operating contracts with the Town of Hudson, New Hampshire and the Town of Salisbury, Massachusetts. During the first quarter of 2004, the non-regulated water service company did not acquire any new operating contracts. Pennichuck Corporation is a holding company located in Nashua, New Hampshire with diversified businesses involved in regulated water supply and distribution in Nashua and towns throughout southern and central New Hampshire; non-regulated, water-related services and operations; and real estate management and development. Pennichuck Corporation is traded on the Nasdaq NMS exchange under the symbol "PNNW".
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