Business in brief: Avista earnings up over year ago

Avista Corp. reported improved first quarter earnings of $25.2 million, or 47 cents per share.

The results, released Wednesday, compared with earnings of $14.1 million, or 26 cents per share, for the first quarter of 2007.

Officials at the Spokane-based utility attributed the improved results to last year’s sale of Avista Energy Inc., a subsidiary involved in the high-risk business of traded electricity and natural gas. Avista Energy lost money during the first quarter of 2007.

A rate increase for Washington utility customers that took effect Jan. 1 also benefited the company’s bottom line, said Scott Morris, Avista’s chairman and chief executive officer.

Shares of Avista fell 15 cents Wednesday to close at $20.53.

– Becky Kramer

Liberty Lake

Sales help Itron beat estimates

Liberty Lake-based Itron Inc. reported first-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street estimates, boosted by an upswing in North American sales, producing earnings of 81 cents a share and revenue of $481 million.

That compares with 48 cents a share and revenue of $148 million, excluding special items, from one year earlier. The 2008 first-quarter sales are 223 percent above from the same period in 2007, the company told investors in an earnings conference call.

Itron North America, which accounts for about half of the company’s revenue, reported sales of $177 million for the quarter, reversing a downward trend over the past three quarters. The other half of Itron’s revenue comes from its Actaris unit, which was acquired in 2007.

Itron produces automated meters for water, gas and electric utilities, along with services to help utilities manage and gather information on energy use.

Shares of Itron gained $5.42, or 5.8 percent, to $98.50 in aftermarket trading. During regular trading, the stock fell $6.32, or 6.4 percent, to $93.08.

– Tom Sowa

Kootenai County

Web site to track development

Community leaders in Kootenai County on Wednesday said they planned to create a Web site loaded with data to be used to track social and economic progress in North Idaho.

The project will be modeled after the Spokane Community Indicators Initiative, a Web-based database allowing anyone to gather data to measure how well or poorly residents fare in regard to income, environment, social issues, health and education. That massive database is managed by staff at Eastern Washington University.

Assisting with the North Idaho plan is Inland Northwest Community Foundation, a nonprofit funding agency that works with counties in Eastern Washington and Idaho.

Mark Hurtubise, president and CEO of the foundation, said North Idaho leaders and officials have discussed the idea of a Kootenai County indicators project for nearly a year.

Hurtubise said it’s uncertain when that Web-based indicator database would be available.

– Tom Sowa