When Progress Energy Inc. holds its annual shareholders meeting Wednesday, the company's executives probably won't be facing the anger and frustration that bubbled over during TECO Energy Inc.'s recent meeting in Tampa.
That's not just because Progress' meeting is being held this year in Asheville, N.C., amid the soothing beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Although the past 12 months have been dreadful for TECO and other utilities, Progress has come through in better shape than many of its counterparts.
The company's stock closed Friday at $41.63, down 19 percent from its year-earlier close of $51.49. Not good, but it could have been worse considering that the Philadelphia Utility Index, the industry's main stock index, sank 23 percent during the same period.
And in a year when many utilities had to cut or even suspend dividends to conserve cash, Progress managed to increase its quarterly payout for the 15th consecutive year to 56 cents a share, up a penny and a half.
Not that Progress, the parent of Progress Florida in St. Petersburg, lacks challenges. Moody's Investors Service cut the company's debt rating in February. Progress' efforts to sell assets to reduce debt haven't progressed as quickly as it had hoped. But the company's core business is healthy enough that shareholders may be able keep their attention focused on the view around Asheville.
