Piedmont Natural Gas Reports Record Profit

Charlotte-based Piedmont Natural Gas today reported record profits and earnings per share for the year ending Oct. 31.Piedmont said its net income for fiscal 2009 was $122.8 million, a 12 percent increase over the previous year. Its earnings per share of $1.67 beat the $1.49 of 2008.Chairman and CEO Thomas Skains attributed the strong performance to “continued efforts to grow our customer base, improve our business processes and operational efficiency and expand our customer services.”The company added 12,600 customers, a 1.3 percent growth rate, but down from the 20,500 additions of a year earlier.