CORRECT:2nd UPDATE:Sempra Profit Down On Write-Off;Utilities Strong
2009年8月1日 - 6:23AM
Dow Jones News
Sempra Energy (SRE) posted second-quarter earnings down 19% due
to a charge from a natural gas storage project that didn't work
out, but the company vowed to hit its earnings target for the year
on the strength of other units.
Sempra wrote off $64 million from the Liberty Gas salt cavern
natural gas storage project in Louisiana, in which it holds a 75%
stake, after the company experienced difficulties developing the
northern end of the project area, making that part of the project
uneconomical, said Sempra Chief Executive Don Felsinger. Although
Sempra didn't foresee the problem and didn't include the write-off
in its earnings guidance for 2009, the company will meet its
full-year goals on the strength of its utilities, commodity trading
joint venture with Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and other units, he
said.
"Even after the impact of the write-off of the Liberty assets,
we're still on track to meet our goals for the year," Felsinger
said during a conference call with analysts. He noted that the
company's utilities are pursuing the largest capital projects
they've ever taken on, particularly San Diego Gas & Electric,
which is developing a $1.9 billion high-voltage transmission line
and plans to spend $572 million to replace all the utility meters
for its 2.1 million electric customers.
Shares of Sempra recently traded 0.1% higher at $52.66.
Sempra posted a profit of $198 million, or 80 cents a share,
down from $244 million, or 98 cents, a year earlier. The latest
period included 26 cents in write-downs at its pipeline and storage
unit while the prior year had gains from the formation of the
trading venture with RBS.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters most recently were looking
for earnings, excluding items, of 97 cents a share.
Revenue dropped 33% to $1.69 billion due to sharply lower
natural-gas prices.
While revenue was lower, costs also were lower, offsetting the
impact, said Chief Financial Officer Mark Snell.
"Generally speaking, the underlying price of commodities doesn't
have much effect on our business," Snell said in an interview. "We
contract for long-term periods ... for the vast majority of our
revenues."
At Sempra's utilities, earnings were up 15% on higher margins
though gas sales volume fell 6.5% and electricity deliveries
dropped 1.1%.
At its generation business, which sells wholesale power,
earnings jumped 43% on prior-year mark-to-market losses as power
sold edged down 0.4%.
Commodities earnings fell on the prior-year gains. Sempra saw
net earnings of $85 million from total joint venture quarterly
earnings of $142 million. Earnings from the joint venture were less
than half what they were a year ago, due to sharply lower commodity
prices, particularly for natural gas, although the unit made gains
from its oil and metals portfolios, the company said.
Snell noted that while lower commodity prices led to lower
earnings at its commodity-trading joint venture with RBS, the
second quarter of 2008 was a record quarter for the unit.
Sempra's liquefied natural gas unit posted a smaller loss than a
year ago, and is expected to post a profit in the fourth quarter,
the company said. Sempra's Cameron LNG receiving terminal began
operating earlier this month and its Mexican LNG terminal started
receiving cargoes in June. In addition to cargoes expected to
arrive under contract, Sempra said it expects spot cargoes to come
to its Louisiana LNG terminal this summer as part of an agreement
with Ras Gas, a consortium of producers in Qatar.
Sempra reiterated its 2009 earnings target of $4.35 to $4.60 a
share.
-By Cassandra Sweet and Tess Stynes, Dow Jones Newswires;
415-269-4446; cassandra.sweet@dowjones.com