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Enbridge's strength in the utilities and gas segments will help it to exceed estimates

Enbridge, the Canadian pipeline operator, beat analyst's expectations for its second-quarter profits on Friday. This was boosted by earnings from newly acquired U.S. utilities and from its gas distribution business.

The company announced that it had sanctioned the expansion of Aitken Creek, a gas storage facility located in British Columbia to accommodate the growing demand for LNG on the west coast of Canada. It also said that Line 31 would be expanded by 160 million cubic feet a day in the U.S. Southeast.

Pipeline operators benefit from a rise in natural gas demand, driven primarily by LNG exports and rising electricity demand.

Greg Ebel, CEO of Ebel Energy Corporation, said: "We will capitalize on the growing demand for electricity and natural gas."

Enbridge, based in Calgary, bought three Dominion Energy utilities last year -- East Ohio Gas (formerly Dominion Energy), Questar Gas and Public Service Co. of North Carolina. The deal was worth $14 billion, including the debt.

The unit that handles gas distribution and storage saw its adjusted core earnings jump from C$567 to C$840, a C$217 million increase.

Enbridge's gas transmission unit reported a core adjusted profit of C$1.38 (US$995.02 millions) compared to C$1.08 billion the year before.

The company also builds out its renewables and announced last month that they had made a final decision to invest $900,000,000 in a 600 megawatt solar power plant in Texas.

Enbridge approved new projects worth approximately C$2 billion during the third quarter.

The company stated that it did not expect tariffs will have a significant impact on current operations or capital deployment, but it would continue to monitor developments.

Enbridge reported an adjusted profit per share of 65 Canadian dollars for the quarter that ended on June 30. This was higher than analysts' expectations of 57 Canadian dollars, according to LSEG. (1 Canadian dollar = 1.3869 dollars) (Reporting and editing by Shinjini Ganuli and Sriraj Kalluvila in Bengaluru)

(source: Reuters)