Utility Evergy misses quarterly profit estimates on lower demand, higher costs

May 8 (Reuters) - Evergy Inc EVRG.O missed Wall Street estimates for first-quarter profit on Wednesday, as the utility was hurt by higher costs and lower demand due to an unplanned maintenance shutdown by a large customer.

Higher-for-longer interest rates raise borrowing costs for power companies, which usually need more capital for maintaining and upgrading grid infrastructure.

The company's interest expenses rose 14.5% to $152.5 million in the quarter, while total operating expenses increased to $1.08 billion.

Evergy also said its industrial demand decreased because an unnamed large customer had an unplanned maintenance shutdown. It said the customer is expected produce at near-normal levels this month.

Still, Evergy's total revenue for the quarter rose 3.3% from a year ago to $1.37 billion.

Its total retail sales for the first-quarter were up 1.6% from a year earlier to $1.10 billion. A colder-than-expected-winter increased electricity and gas consumption during the quarter, as residences and businesses had more heating demand.

Evergy said it expects strong commercial and industrial load growth as Meta META.O and Panasonic 6752.T ramp up operations in the second half of this year.

Evergy said in February it has secured customers including Google GOOGL.O, Meta and Panasonic for data centers and advanced manufacturing.

The utility sees year-over-year load growth in the third quarter and fourth quarter of 3% to 5% for commercial and 6% to 8% for industrial.

Evergy provides power to 1.7 million customers in Kansas and Missouri through its operating subsidiaries Evergy Kansas Central, Evergy Metro and Evergy Missouri West.

On an adjusted basis, the company reported a profit of 54 cents per share for the first quarter, missing analysts' estimates of 66 cents per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.

The company reaffirmed its annual forecast for adjusted earnings of between $3.92 per share and $4.12 per share.