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14 May, 2021 Author Tom DiChristopherGaurang Dholakia
Natural gas utilities reported another solid quarter of earnings to kick off 2021, with several gas distributors crediting winter storm tailwinds for profits that exceeded expectations and strong year-over-year gains.
Eight of nine gas utilities in a group selected by S&P Global Market Intelligence posted EPS that surpassed S&P Capital IQ consensus normalized earnings estimates. All of the companies posted year-over-year EPS gains, and five of those companies have now posted at least four consecutive quarters of earnings improvement.
The earnings period included February s devastating winter storms, which plunged parts of the Southern and Central U.S. into blackouts and contributed to dozens of deaths. The event led to a run on gas demand and extreme price spikes, resulting in sky-high gas purchase costs for some utilities.
Published date: 3 March 2021 13:14 UTC | Last update: 1 month ago
In the Christian-majority, northern Iraqi town of Qaraqosh, a community uprooted by the Islamic State (IS) group in 2014 is now preparing for an event that, just a few years ago, seemed unimaginable: a visit by His Holiness Pope Francis.
When IS entered Qaraqosh, which lies 30km from Mosul, the town s entire population - save two elderly ladies - fled to neighbouring Iraqi Kurdistan, leaving militants to a campaign of looting and destruction. Churches were desecrated, steeples toppled, statues smashed; Christian homes were looted and set ablaze.
After liberation by Iraqi forces in 2016, IS graffiti marred walls across the ruined and deserted town, while a church hall used as an IS bomb-making facility was still full of chemicals, explosive components and IS stencils.