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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Itron shares the moment

Jennifer Sudick Staff writer

Spokane-based Itron has reached a $1 billion milestone.

The company’s market capitalization, which is the number of its outstanding shares of stock multiplied by the current price of a share, was $1.03 billion at the close of trading Wednesday. Itron’s shares hit a 52-week high earlier in the day of $48.29, but closed down slightly at $47.25. The stock price has risen 65 percent since September.

Mima Scarpelli, vice president of investor relations and corporate communications at Itron, said although the $1 billion mark shows progress, “There’s no real magic to it. We’re obviously really thrilled, but it doesn’t really change what we’re doing as a company.”

She said the figure makes more of a difference in how Itron investors manage their funds than in how the company operates in the short term.

Itron CEO LeRoy Nosbaum recently said he’d like to grow the company to $1 billion in revenue. Itron said in its first-quarter earnings release that it expects revenue of $510 to $520 million in 2005.

Itron, founded in 1977, provides automatic meter-reading systems and energy- and water-use technologies for utilities worldwide. Last week the company announced a contract with North Carolina-based Piedmont Natural Gas Company for automated data collection services for 945,000 natural-gas meters.