WRAPUP 1-Duke, Dominion see possible demand bounce

* Earnings per share top Wall St views

* Demand from major customers seen rebounding

* Duke, Dominion shares dip, Constellation firms

NEW YORK, Oct 30 (Reuters) - U.S. utility owners Duke Energy (DUK.N), Dominion Resources Inc (D.N) and Constellation Energy Group (CEG.N) posted better than expected earnings on Friday and said they were seeing signs electricity demand could turn higher.

Power companies have seen their sales fall as the recession in the United States cut demand for electricity from factories and businesses.

Cooler than expected summer weather also cut into air conditioning demand, the companies said, although cheaper prices for fuels such as natural gas and coal helped reduce costs.

Duke said power sales at its utility businesses fell nearly 9 percent because of the weak economy, but its volumes sold to industrial customers was stabilizing, and increased by about 11 percent from the second quarter.

That was consistent with comments from American Electric Power Co (AEP.N) and Xcel Energy Inc (XEL.N), which reported earnings on Thursday. [ID:nBNG468261]

Duke said its cost cutting measures are expected to yield $150 million in savings this year, and had kept it on track to reach its 2009 earnings per share target of $1.20.

"Achievement of the assumed target assumes normal weather, target success with our (cost) control efforts, strong operational performance and no deterioration in the economy for the remainder of the year," Jim Rogers, Duke's chairman and chief executive, told a conference call.

Duke's profit fell 49 percent to $109 million from a year earlier, but its earnings per share excluding one-time items of 40 cents was slightly higher than the 38 cents that analysts had forecast, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Dominion posted a 17 percent increase in third quarter profits, and earnings excluding one-time items of 99 cents per share beat the 90 cents that analysts had forecast.

However, its revenues of $3.65 billion lagged the $3.94 billion analysts had expected.

Constellation reported net income of $137.6 million versus a loss of $225.7 million a year earlier, and its adjusted net income of $1.23 per share topped the $1.07 per share analysts had expected, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company raised its full-year 2009 earnings outlook by 15 cents to between $3.25 a share to $3.45 a share, saying it had seen indications of electricity demand stabilizing in some markets.

Shares in Duke slipped 0.6 percent to $16.02 per share in late morning trading, while Dominion was down 0.3 percent to $34.72 per share and Constellation was up 1.5 percent to $31.59 per share. (Reporting by Matt Daily and Arup Roychoudhury in Bangalore; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)