CALENERGY CO INC
8-K, 1998-11-10
COGENERATION SERVICES & SMALL POWER PRODUCERS
Previous: SCOTT TECHNOLOGIES INC, DEFS14A, 1998-11-10
Next: X CEED INC, 8-K/A, 1998-11-10



                                 
                Securities and Exchange Commission
                                 
                       Washington, DC  20549
                                 
                             Form 8-K
                                 
                          Current Report
                                 
              Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the
                   Securities Exchange Act 1934
                                 
                                 
                  Date of Report October 22, 1998
                 (Date of earliest event reported)
                                 
                                 
                                 
                      CalEnergy Company, Inc.
      (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
                                 


    Delaware                     1-9874               94-2213782
(State of other              (Commission File       (IRS Employer
 jurisdiction of                 Number)          Identification No.)
 incorporation)



 302 South 36th Street, Suite 400,     Omaha, NE     68131
       (Address of principal executive offices)     Zip Code

Registrant's Telephone Number, including area code:    (402) 341-4500


                              N/A
 (Former name or former address, if changed since last report)
<PAGE>
Item 5.  Other Events

      On  October 22, 1998, the Registrant reported results for the
three  and  nine months ended September 30, 1998.  A  copy  of  the
press  release  issued  by the Registrant  is  attached  hereto  as
Exhibit 1 and is incorporated herein by reference.

      Certain information included in this report contains forward-
looking   statements  made  pursuant  to  the  Private   Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995 ("Reform Act").  Such statements  are
based  on  current expectations and involve a number of  known  and
unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results
and  performance  of the Registrant to differ materially  from  any
expected  future results or performance, expressed or  implied,  by
the forward-looking statements including expectations regarding the
future  results of operations of Registrant and MidAmerican  Energy
Holdings  Company and the combined company, the intended  financing
of  the  merger and receipt of regulatory approvals.  In connection
with  the  safe harbor provisions of the Reform Act, the Registrant
has identified important factors that could cause actual results to
differ  materially  from such expectations,  including  development
uncertainty,   operating   uncertainty,  acquisition   uncertainty,
uncertainties  relating to doing business  outside  of  the  United
States,    uncertainties   relating   to   geothermal    resources,
uncertainties  relating  to  domestic  and  international  (and  in
particular,  Indonesian)  economic  and  political  conditions  and
uncertainties  regarding  the impact  of  regulations,  changes  in
government   policy,   industry   deregulation   and   competition.
Reference is made to all of the Registrant's SEC Filings, including
the  Proxy Statement and the Registrant's Report on Form 8-K  dated
March  6, 1998, incorporated herein by reference, for a description
of  such factors.  The Company assumes no responsibility to  update
forward-looking information contained herein.


Item 7.  Financial Statements and Exhibits

Exhibit 1 - Press Release dated October 22, 1998


<PAGE>
                           SIGNATURE


     Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934,  the  Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed  on
its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

                                   CalEnergy Company, Inc.




                                By: \s\ Douglas L. Anderson
                                        Douglas L. Anderson
                                        Assistant Secretary and
                                        Assistant General Counsel




Dated: November 10, 1998
<PAGE>

                             EXHIBIT 1


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Craig M. Hammett - Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer 402-341-4500
Craig S. Allen - Manager, Investor Relations                      402-341-4500
Diana Nelson - Brunswick, Media Relations                         212-333-3810

            CalEnergy Reports 14% Increase in Revenues
              and 10% Increase in Earnings Per Share

     OMAHA,  NEBRASKA, October 22, 1998 -- CalEnergy Company,  Inc.
("CalEnergy"  or  the "Company") (NYSE:  CE;  PCX  and  LSE)  today
reported results for the three and nine months ended September  30,
1998.  Highlights are as follows:

     Three Months Ended September 30, 1998 (compared to same period
in 1997)

     Revenues increased 14% to $627.7 million from $551.9 million
     in 1997
     Net income increased 3% to $47.6 million from $46.4 million in 
     1997 (1)
     Net income per basic share increased 10% to $0.80 from $0.73
     in 1997 (1)
     Diluted earnings per share increased 8% to $0.72 from $0.67 in
     1997 (1)
     Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization
     increased 16% to $253.0 million from $218.2 million in 1997
     
     Nine  Months Ended September 30, 1998 (compared to same period
in 1997)
     
     Revenues increased 15% to $1.89 billion from $1.64 billion in
     1997
     Net income increased 3% to $107.4 million from $104.7 million
     in 1997 (1)
     Net income per basic share increased 8% to $1.78 from $1.65 in
     1997 (1)
     Diluted earnings per share increased 7% to $1.67 from $1.56 in
     1997 (1)
     Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization
     increased 16% to $698.8 million from $604.3 million in 1997
     
     (1) Before extraordinary item in 1997.
     
The  third quarter of 1998 contained many notable events which  are
described in greater detail below:

MidAmerican Merger Agreement

      On  August  12, 1998, CalEnergy announced the approval  of  a
definitive  merger  agreement  with  MidAmerican  Energy   Holdings
Company  ("MidAmerican").  The Company will pay $27.15 in cash  for
each  MidAmerican common share outstanding, valuing MidAmerican  at
approximately  $4.2  billion, including $1.6 billion  of  debt  and
preferred stock which will remain outstanding at MidAmerican  after
the  acquisition.  MidAmerican, a leading regional provider of low-
cost  energy and related services, provides electricity to  648,000
customers  and natural gas to 619,000 customers in Iowa,  Illinois,
Nebraska  and South Dakota.  In the year ended December  31,  1997,
MidAmerican generated revenues of over $1.9 billion and had  assets
of approximately $4.3 billion.


                              -more-
CalEnergy Company, Inc
October 22, 1998
Page -2-

MidAmerican Merger Agreement (Cont.)

     All of the necessary regulatory applications and notifications
have been filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,  the
Nuclear  Regulatory  Commission, the  Department  of  Justice,  the
Federal  Trade Commission and the Iowa Utilities Board.  On October
13,  1998, the Company announced that the waiting period under  the
Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of  1976  expired  and
that federal antitrust clearance had therefore been obtained.   The
Company has scheduled a special shareholders meeting on October 30,
1998  to  obtain  approval to reincorporate CalEnergy  as  an  Iowa
corporation and approve the proposed merger.

     Completion  of the merger is expected to occur by the  end  of
the  first  quarter 1999.  The combined enterprise is  expected  to
have  total  assets  of  approximately $13  billion,  total  annual
revenues  of  more than $5 billion and will serve over 3.3  million
retail  customers.  The transaction is expected to be accretive  to
earnings in the first full year of combined operations.

Successful Completion of a $1.4 Billion Senior Note and Bond
Offering

      On  September  22, 1998, CalEnergy closed the  sale  of  $1.4
billion  aggregate principal amount of its Senior Notes  and  Bonds
with  a  weighted  average maturity of 15.5 years  and  a  weighted
average  interest rate of 7.7%.  The Senior Notes  and  Bonds  were
rated  BB+,  Ba1 and BB+ by Standard & Poor's, Moody's and  Duff  &
Phelps,  respectively, and CalEnergy's long term  senior  debt  was
placed  on  credit watch with positive implications for a  possible
upgrade  by  all  three  rating  agencies  following  the  proposed
MidAmerican merger.

      Approximately $830 million in net proceeds of the Senior Note
and Bond Offering (the "Offering") is expected to be utilized as  a
component  of  the  funding  necessary  to  complete  the   pending
MidAmerican merger.  In addition, approximately $543 million of the
net  proceeds  of the Offering is expected to be used to  refinance
the Company's outstanding 10 1/4% Senior Discount Notes, which become
callable  on January 15, 1999.  In October, the Company repurchased
approximately $156 million of the 10 1/4% Senior Discount Notes.

Operations
     
     United States

      The Company's Coso and Imperial Valley geothermal projects in
the U.S. continued to operate at high efficiencies and received the
maximum   capacity  payments  allowed  by  their   Power   Purchase
Agreements  during the third quarter of 1998.  These  11  projects,
representing  532  net megawatts, operated with a  high  degree  of
availability and without any major interruptions during the quarter
- --- the period of heaviest demand for electricity in the region and
which yields the highest revenue for delivered power.

     United Kingdom

      Northern  Electric,  the Company's subsidiary  in  the  U.K.,
continues to expand its gas customers and has increased gas  supply
revenues  by  $86.1 million to $99.6 million for  the  nine  months
ended  September 30, 1998, compared to $13.5 million for  the  nine
months ended September 30, 1997.  Also, included in the nine  month
results  are  initial customer acquisition costs of  $31.1  million
related  to  commissions  and opening meter  reads.   Northern  has
acquired over 600,000 new gas customers since the inception of  its
`Dual Fuel' marketing campaign in 1997.  Over 400,000 of these  gas
customers  are  on supply with the remaining 200,000 gas  customers
currently progressing through the registration process.

                              -more-
CalEnergy Company, Inc
October 22, 1998
Page -3-

Operations - United Kingdom (Cont.)

     Northern Electric has also continued to grow the above 100
kilowatt market.  The last three major contract rounds produced the
following results:

               Volume to                    Sales
               Renew (GWh)              Achieved (GWh)
Increase

October, 1997       1,808                    2,366                31%

April, 1998         1,631                    2,386                46%

October, 1998       2,000                    4,330               116%

     Total gas (GWh equivalent) and electricity supplied has
increased by 47% to 16,505 GWh for the nine months ended September
30, 1998 from 11,248 GWh for the same period in 1997.

     In addition, Northern's service territory is scheduled to open
to retail electricity competition for the less than 100 kilowatt
market on November 4, 1998.  The Company believes that Northern is
fully prepared to engage in cost-effective marketing of their
widely-respected brand name.

     Philippines

      CalEnergy's projects in the Philippines, representing 500 net
megawatts, continue to deliver electricity to the Republic  of  the
Philippines and have received all monthly payments as scheduled.

Salton Sea Expansion

     Zinc Recovery Project

      Construction of the Zinc Recovery Project has commenced.  The
project  will  extract  minerals, initially zinc,  from  geothermal
brine.   The zinc extraction process will use ion exchange, solvent
extraction and electrowinning to extract and plate zinc from  spent
geothermal  fluid after it is used to generate electricity  at  the
existing Imperial Valley geothermal projects.

     Debt Offering

     On  October 13, 1998, CalEnergy announced that the Salton  Sea
Funding  Corporation had closed the sale of $285 million  principal
amount of its 7.475% Senior Secured Series F Bonds due November 30,
2018.
     
     Proceeds  from the issuance of Funding Corporation Bonds  will
be  used to fund construction of two new geothermal projects at the
Salton  Sea totaling 59 net megawatts, to partially fund the  costs
of  construction of the related Zinc Recovery Project,  to  fund  a
portion  of the costs associated with the upgrade of certain  brine
processing facilities and for other capital improvements to the 
steamfield and related  facilities at the existing Salton Sea Projects.   
Moody's Investor's Service raised the Funding Corporation Bonds' investment
grade  rating  from Baa3 to Baa2, and Standard & Poor's  reaffirmed
the ratings at BBB-.



                              -more-





CalEnergy Company, Inc.
October 22, 1998
Page -4-
     
$60 Million of New Renewable Resource Funding Awarded

     On  July  13,  1998, the Company announced that three  of  its
subsidiaries  had  been selected as winning bidders  for  financial
incentives by the California Energy Commission from funds set aside
under   AB   1890,  California's  landmark  electric   deregulation
legislation, which was passed in 1996.  Each of the three CalEnergy
subsidiaries  is proposing to develop, own and operate  a  separate
geothermal  power  project in California, for a total  of  107  net
megawatts  of new capacity.  The total financial incentive  payment
available  to CalEnergy is approximately $60 million  and  will  be
received by the Company over a five year
period following the completion of the new geothermal projects.
     
     CE  Casecnan's Senior Secured Debt Rating Upgraded by Standard
& Poor's

     On  July 14, 1998, CalEnergy announced that Standard &  Poor's
upgraded its subsidiary CE Casecnan Water and Energy Company,  Inc.
("CE  Casecnan") senior secured debt rating to "BB+  with  negative
outlook"  from  "BB with negative Credit Watch".   CE  Casecnan  is
constructing a combined hydroelectric and irrigation project in the
Philippines.   The  project  is  on  schedule  and  on  budget  for
completion  by mid 2000.  The negative outlook is solely  based  on
the foreign currency rating of the Republic of the Philippines, the
guarantor of the project's contractual payments.
     
Indonesia

      On  August 14, 1998, the Dieng and Patuha projects filed  for
arbitration  under the United Nations Commission  on  International
Trade  Law rules against PLN, the Government of Indonesia's wholly-
owned electric utility, and the Government of Indonesia for failure
to  pay  for electricity under the Company's "take or pay" contract
and   failure  to  honor  its  sovereign  guarantees.   Arbitration
proceedings represent a contractually required step in the  process
of collecting monies due from PLN and the Government of Indonesia.

Stock Repurchase Program

     Since November 1997, the Company has repurchased approximately
3.7 million common shares in open market transactions.  On February
23,  1998, CalEnergy announced that it had increased the authorized
purchase  amounts in its stock repurchase program to three  million
shares  of  its common stock.  During the third quarter  1998,  the
Company repurchased 497,000 common shares and has approximately 2.3
million  shares remaining of the three million shares approved  for
repurchase.

Commenting on the results and the events during the third quarter
1998, David L. Sokol, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, stated:

     "This  has  been a record quarter for operations at  CalEnergy
and we are very excited about the opportunities that lie ahead.  We
are  particularly pleased with the strong performance and  progress
made at Northern Electric, our U.K. electric and gas utility.   Our
projects in the Philippines also continue to perform well  and  are
showing strong operating results."
     
     "We   believe   our  nine  month  financial   results,   which
demonstrate  continued growth in EBITDA and EPS,  are  particularly
noteworthy  in  light of the fact that during the  period  earnings
were  negatively  impacted by severe winter weather  conditions  in
upstate   New   York,   the   continuing  Indonesian   uncertainty,
significant customer acquisition costs incurred at Northern and the
pricing  of  two of the Company's ISO4 contracts have decreased  to
avoided cost."
     
                              -more-
CalEnergy Company, Inc.
October 22, 1998
Page -5-
     
     
     "The  situation  in  Indonesia is contained.   In  the  fourth
quarter  of last year, we announced a full write off of our  equity
exposure.   We have subsequently commenced arbitration  proceedings
and  also carry political risk insurance coverage on our Indonesian
assets."

     "The MidAmerican Energy transaction is proceeding smoothly and
we  look forward to a speedy completion and the combination of  the
skills of two strong management teams.  We believe MidAmerican will
provide an excellent platform for growth as the U.S. energy markets
restructure.  Our  enlarged  company will  be  a  powerful  entity,
positioned for growth in the energy markets worldwide."

      This  press release contains forward-looking statements  made
pursuant  to the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act  of  1995
("Reform  Act").  Such statements are based on current expectations
and  involve  a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties
that  could cause the actual results and performance of the Company
to   differ   materially  from  any  expected  future  results   or
performance,   expressed   or  implied,  by   the   forward-looking
statements.  In connection with the safe harbor provisions  of  the
Reform Act, the Company has identified important factors that could
cause  actual  results to differ materially from such expectations,
including    development   uncertainty,   operating    uncertainty,
uncertainties  relating to doing business  outside  of  the  United
States,    uncertainties   relating   to   geothermal    resources,
uncertainties  relating  to  domestic  and  international  (and  in
particular,  Indonesian)  economic  and  political  conditions  and
uncertainties  regarding  the impact  of  regulations,  changes  in
government   policy,   industry   deregulation   and   competition.
Reference  is  made to all of the Company's SEC filings,  including
the  Company's Report on Form 8-K dated March 6, 1998, incorporated
herein  by  reference,  for a description  of  such  factors.   The
Company   assumes   no  responsibility  to  update  forward-looking
information contained herein.

     CalEnergy  is  a global energy company that manages  and  owns
interests   in  over  5,000  net  megawatts  of  power   generation
facilities  in  operation, construction and development  worldwide.
The  Company  develops  and produces energy from  diversified  fuel
sources   including  geothermal,  natural  gas  and  hydroelectric.
Through  its  subsidiary Northern Electric, CalEnergy supplies  and
distributes  electricity and gas to 2.0 million  customers  in  the
United Kingdom.  CalEnergy conducts business in the U.S., U.K., the
Philippines, Indonesia, Poland and Australia, and employs more than
4,200  people  worldwide.  For the year ended  December  31,  1997,
CalEnergy generated revenues of over $2.2 billion and had assets of
approximately $7.5 billion.
     
                         www.calenergy.com
                                 
                              -more-
                                 
                                 
CalEnergy Company, Inc.
October 22, 1998
Page -6-
                                                                   
                        CALENERGY COMPANY, INC.
                CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
              (in thousands, expect per share amounts)
                             (unaudited)
                                                                   
                                                       
                               Three Months              Nine Months
                                   Ended                    Ended
                                September 30             September 30
                               1998      1997          1998        1997
                                                                   
Revenues:                                                             
Operating revenue         $ 600,862  $ 527,896   $1,813,302   $1,576,407
Interest and other income    26,885     23,997       79,274       66,456
Total revenues              627,747    551,893    1,892,576    1,642,863
                                                                   
Costs and Expenses:
Cost of sales               265,605    239,081      848,018      746,626
Operating expense            99,052     82,513      312,830      254,389
General and administration   10,085     12,068       32,943       37,560
Depreciation and 
amortization                 81,449     69,877      247,033      207,789
Net interest expense         81,286     64,361      241,015      187,824
Total costs and expenses    537,477    467,900    1,681,839    1,434,188
                                                                   
Income before income taxes   90,270     83,993      210,737      208,675
Provision for income taxes   32,112     27,929       72,595       74,520
                                                                   
Income before minority
interest                     58,158     56,064      138,142      134,155
Minority interest            10,535      9,656       30,758       29,410
                                                                   
Net income before
extraordinary item           47,623     46,408      107,384      104,745
                                                                   
Extraordinary item, net of 
minority interest 
of $58,222                        -   (135,850)           -     (135,850)

Net income (loss)available 
for common shareholders    $ 47,623  $ (89,442)   $ 107,384    $ (31,105)

Net income per share before
extraordinary item - basic $   0.80  $    0.73    $    1.78    $    1.65

Extraordinary item                -          -        (2.14)       (2.14)

Net income (loss) per
share - basic              $   0.80  $   (1.41)   $    1.78    $   (0.49)
                                                                   
Average number of common
shares outstanding           59,674     63,380       60,330       63,474
                                                                   
Net income per share                
before extraordinary
item - diluted             $   0.72   $   0.67    $    1.67    $    1.56

Extraordinary item-diluted        -      (1.80)           -        (1.87)
Net income (loss) per 
share - diluted            $   0.72   $  (1.13)   $    1.67    $   (0.31)
                                                                   
Diluted shares               73,540     75,555       74,274       72,758
                                                                   
                                      #  #  #                     
                                 




© 2022 IncJournal is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission