Enbridge announced Thursday it had adjusted earnings of $1.668 billion or $0.83 per common share for the first quarter of 2020, compared with $1.640 billion or $0.81 per common share in 2019.

But it had a loss of about $1.43 billion attributable to common shareholders compared with $1.9 billion in earnings a year ago.

“Our responsibility to deliver energy safely and reliably is even more critical in these challenging times. Our pipeline networks assure energy security for North America and the vital fuel supplies that keep our economy and supply chains moving and support the production of equipment and delivery of services needed to fight COVID-19,” said Al Monaco, President and CEO, in a news release.

“Our teams responded to this unprecedented challenge, quickly and effectively. In January we initiated comprehensive business continuity measures to protect the health of our employees, contractors and the communities we operate in. Our people have once again shown their professionalism and dedication to their work in keeping our critical functions operating safely and reliably in this difficult time.

“While the full economic impact of COVID-19 and pace of global recovery is still uncertain, we’re confident that Enbridge will persevere through the difficult conditions being faced by all of us today. That’s because resiliency has always been a hallmark of how we manage our business; our strategically located assets, diversified cash flows, strong commercial underpinnings, and a strong balance sheet, allow us to withstand economic downturns and stay well-positioned for the future.”

He said all of the company’s businesses performed well. in the first quarter.  Despite warmer than normal weather and lower contribution from energy services, its operating and financial results came in better than expected because of record volumes on the Liquids Mainline, strong utilization on its Texas Eastern gas transmission system, and great progress on synergy capture within its Gas Distribution and Storage business, he said.

“This solid performance underscores the strength and resiliency of our diversified asset portfolio which will serve us well in the face of the challenges emerging from the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there’s no doubt that the impacts of the pandemic on society as a whole, and the energy industry, are unprecedented. The global economy has severely contracted and we’re experiencing energy demand disruption on a scale that we haven’t seen before. While Enbridge’s business is resilient and our financial position is strong, we don’t expect to be entirely immune to COVID-19 impacts in the near term,” said Monaco.

After a comprehensive review of our operating expenditures, the company plans to reduce 2020 costs by approximately $300 million, he added.

“These actions include company-wide compensation reductions, including for myself, the Board of Directors, and the rest of the management team. In addition, we’ve already increased our excess liquidity to $14 billion, which ensures we can fund our capital program well into 2021, even in the absence of further access to debt capital markets. Finally, we’re deferring about $1 billion of 2020 secured growth capital spending to reflect refined execution schedules in light of COVID-19,” said Monaco.

“Finally, we remain focused on executing our $10 billion 3-year (2020 – 2022) secured growth capital program, of which approximately $5.5 billion remains to be spent (net of project level financing). Once in service, these low risk, highly capital efficient organic projects will drive solid growth over the near to medium term and advance our strategic priorities. Importantly, the actions we’ve taken to bolster our balance sheet and liquidity provides us with the continued financial flexibility to self-fund this growth.”