Calgary-based TransCanada Corp. announced record financial results for the company in the fourth quarter and full year 2018 on Thursday.
The company said net income attributable to common shares for the fourth quarter was $1.1 billion or $1.19 per share compared to net income of $0.9 billion or $0.98 per share for the same period in 2017.
For the year, net income attributable to common shares was $3.5 billion or $3.92 per share compared to net income of $3.0 billion or $3.44 per share in 2017.
It said comparable earnings for the fourth quarter were $946 million or $1.03 per common share compared to $719 million or $0.82 per share for the same period in 2017.
For the year, comparable earnings were $3.5 billion or $3.86 per common share compared to $2.7 billion or $3.09 per share in 2017.
TransCanada’s board of directors also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per common share for the quarter ending March 31, 2019, equivalent to $3.00 per common share on an annualized basis, an increase of 8.7 per cent. This is the 19th consecutive year the board of directors has raised the dividend.
“We are very pleased with the performance of our diversified portfolio of high-quality, long-life energy infrastructure assets which produced record financial results again in 2018,” said Russ Girling, TransCanada’s president and chief executive officer, in a statement. “Comparable earnings per share increased 25 per cent compared to 2017 while comparable funds generated from operations of $6.5 billion were 16 per cent higher than last year. The increases reflect the strong performance of our legacy assets, contributions from approximately $4 billion of growth projects that were placed into service and the positive impact of U.S. tax reform.
“With our existing asset base expected to benefit from supportive market fundamentals and $36 billion of secured growth projects currently underway, approximately $9 billion of which is commissioning or nearing completion, earnings and cash flow are forecast to continue to rise. This is expected to support annual dividend growth of eight to ten per cent through 2021.
“We have invested $13 billion in these projects to date and are well positioned to fund the remainder of our secured growth program through significant and growing internally generated cash flow, access to capital markets and further portfolio management activities. … Looking ahead, we will also continue to carefully advance more than $20 billion of projects under development, including Keystone XL and the Bruce Power life extension program. Success in advancing these and other growth initiatives that are expected to emanate from TransCanada’s five operating businesses across North America could extend our growth outlook well into the next decade.”
– Mario Toneguzzi for Calgary’s Business
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