One common refrain this corporate earnings season is trade tariffs. Companies are spelling out the impact of the trade war between the United States and China on their profits.
Even companies that don’t do business with China are preparing for the ripple effect. Take Duke Energy (DUK). The nation’s largest utility does most of its business in the U.S., but CEO Lynn Good tells Fortune, “Trade is on everyone’s mind.”
“We are impacted in our supply chain. So vendors. Things that we buy,” Good says. “We haven’t begun to see much of an impact, but we would expect that to continue over ’18 into ’19 which could have some pressure on the prices of the things that we buy.”
With revenues of $23 billion, the Charlotte, North Carolina utility is ranked number 125 on the Fortune 500 list of the largest companies in America.
Despite trade concerns, Good says the U.S. economy is strong. “We continue to see very strong customer growth. We continue to see growth on the part of our industrial customers. So, it’s been a strong ’18. We’re hoping that momentum continues into ’19,” Good explains, adding, “We’re forecasting for it to continue, but as you know, there continue to be uncertainties that a number of businesses are focused on.”
Watch the video above for more of our interview with Good.
