CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - Aug. 2, 2012) -
HIGHLIGHTS
(all financial figures are unaudited and in Canadian dollars)
Enbridge Inc. (TSX:ENB) (NYSE:ENB) - "Over the first half of 2012, Enbridge has continued to deliver steady performance, keeping us on track with our full year adjusted earnings per share guidance range of $1.58 to $1.74," said Patrick D. Daniel, Chief Executive Officer.
2012 results reflected unrealized non-cash mark-to-market accounting impacts related to the comprehensive long-term economic hedging program Enbridge has put in place to mitigate exposures to interest rate variability and foreign exchange, as well as commodity price risks. These kinds of short-term non-cash impacts to reported earnings are a result of Enbridge's hedging program, which the Company believes over the long-term will support reliable cash flows and dividend growth.
In May, Enbridge announced a suite of major additions to its liquids pipelines infrastructure, totaling $3.2 billion. Enbridge has secured commercial support to proceed with additional Eastern Access projects including a 80,000 barrel per day (bpd) expansion of Enbridge's Toledo Pipeline (Line 17) and a re-reversal of Enbridge's 240,000 bpd Line 9B from Westover, Ontario to Montreal, Quebec. Enbridge and Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. (EEP) also expect to proceed with supporting expansions of the United States mainline system between Flanagan, Illinois and Sarnia, Ontario, and expansion of Line 67 (Alberta Clipper) and Line 61 (Southern Access).
"Our Eastern Access projects complement our previously announced Gulf Coast Access projects in expanding access to new markets in North America for growing production from western Canada and the Bakken," said Mr. Daniel. "These market access projects and the supporting mainline expansions are attractive investment opportunities for Enbridge and EEP. The associated aggregate investment of approximately $8 billion at attractive returns provides substantial support for the extension of our 10% growth rate in adjusted earnings per share through the middle of this decade and beyond."
Mr. Daniel noted that Enbridge's expansion projects will also provide substantial economic benefits to shippers and the local economies in western Canada and the Bakken region in North Dakota where the crude oil is produced, as well as in the midwestern United States and eastern Canada where it will be refined.
"Communities along the routes of these pipelines will also benefit from increased economic activity. Importantly, these initiatives utilize existing energy corridors and pipelines that minimize disruption to the environment and lessen the industry's footprint."
Enbridge and its partner, Enterprise Products Partners, L.P. (Enterprise), marked a significant milestone with oil first flowing May 19, 2012 on the reversed Seaway Pipeline for delivery to the United States Gulf Coast.
"We continue to make excellent progress in establishing a new and much needed corridor from the Chicago area to the United States Gulf Coast refining market," said Mr. Daniel. "With the completion of the first phase of the reversal and expansion of the Seaway Pipeline we've now added 150,000 bpd of new capacity out of the Cushing hub and we expect to ramp this up to 400,000 bpd by the beginning of 2013. Our Flanagan South Pipeline Project and existing Spearhead Pipeline System, combined with the planned twinning of the Seaway Pipeline, will bring total capacity from Chicago to the United States Gulf Coast to approximately 850,000 bpd by mid-2014, with low cost expandability beyond that. This will help to relieve bottlenecks arising from an unprecedented growth outlook for North American oil production, reduce price discounts for producers and further reduce United States dependence on overseas imports."
Over the quarter, Enbridge continued to be active in equity markets and building liquidity in support of the Company's suite of investment opportunities, placing approximately $610 million in preference shares; with a subsequent issue in July raising an additional $450 million. During the quarter, the Company was also successful in issuing 9.83 million common shares for gross proceeds of approximately $400 million.
"In July, confidence in the long-term sustainability of Enbridge's business model was demonstrated by the issuance of a $100 million Century Bond with a 100-year term to maturity through its subsidiary, Enbridge Pipelines Inc., the second Century Bond ever issued by a Canadian corporation," said Mr. Daniel. Also in July, a new US$675 million credit facility was secured by EEP, bringing Enbridge's enterprise wide general purpose credit facilities to $11.8 billion.
In green energy, Enbridge celebrated grand openings at the Silver State North Solar Project (Silver State) in Nevada on May 7, 2012 and at the Greenwich Windfarm in Ontario on June 15, 2012.
"We're pleased to continue to advance our growth strategy in renewable and alternative energy generation, creating environmental benefits while generating stable and reliable cash flows," said Mr. Daniel. "Since 2002, Enbridge has invested nearly $3 billion in its growing North American portfolio of renewable and alternative energy technologies which now includes eight wind farms, four solar projects, a geothermal installation, a hybrid fuel cell and four waste heat recovery facilities."
"Enbridge currently has in place the largest slate of attractive commercially secured growth projects in the history of the Company, supported by a team ready to execute and to lead the Company into the next stage of its development. As we enter the latter half of 2012, we remain confident in our ability to achieve our strategic objectives and to continue to deliver superior results to our shareholders," concluded Mr. Daniel.
In early July, the National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) issued a summary of its report on the July 2010 crude oil leak in Michigan, followed shortly after by publication of its final report.
On July 27, 2012, Enbridge confirmed a crude oil release on Line 14, owned by Enbridge Energy, Limited Partnership, a subsidiary of EEP, near Grand Marsh, Wisconsin. Enbridge continues to make significant clean up and restoration progress at the site and is committed to thorough restoration as quickly as possible. Repair of Line 14 is complete; however, the date for Line 14 to return to service is indeterminate at this time. Enbridge will work with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to meet all requirements that must be satisfied prior to the restart of the line and will work with shippers to mitigate the impact of this disruption to the maximum extent possible.
"At the time of the Marshall incident in July 2010, we immediately accepted full responsibility and committed to do whatever it took to make things right in the community, to fully understand what happened, and to do what was necessary to work with all parties to improve procedures and technology so that this wouldn't happen again," said Mr. Daniel. "While we deeply regret the incident on Line 14 this past week, our ability to quickly detect and immediately respond to the leak thus limiting environmental impacts is evidence of our ongoing commitment to implement the learnings from 2010 and the enhancements we've made over the past two years. We will continue to carefully examine the report of the NTSB, as well as the findings from the investigation of the Line 14 leak, to determine whether any further changes are required. We apologize to those affected by the Line 14 incident and we greatly appreciate the patience and cooperation of the affected landowners and the community.
"Operational safety and reliability are our highest priorities," continued Mr. Daniel. "We are humbled by the incidents we have experienced. Under the framework of our comprehensive Operational Risk Management plan, we are applying our learnings, and have set for ourselves the objective of delivering industry leading performance across all of our existing operations. We will design and build our growth projects to meet and exceed the expectations of our stakeholders for the safe and reliable delivery of energy."
SECOND QUARTER 2012 OVERVIEW
For more information on Enbridge's growth projects and operating results, please see the Management's Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) which is filed on SEDAR and EDGAR and also available on the Company's website at www.enbridge.com/InvestorRelations.aspx.
On April 26, 2012, the Company, Enbridge Energy Distribution Inc. (EEDI) and EGNB, commenced an action against the Province of New Brunswick in the New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench, claiming damages in the amount of $650 million as a result of the continuing breaches by the province of the General Franchise Agreement it signed with Enbridge in 1999. Additionally, on May 2, 2012, the Company, EEDI and EGNB filed a Notice of Application with the New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench seeking a declaration from the Court that the rates and tariffs regulation is invalid. The Application was heard by the Court on July 24, 2012, but no decision has yet been released. There is no assurance these actions will be successful or will result in any recovery.
DIVIDEND DECLARATION
On August 1, 2012, the Enbridge Board of Directors declared the following quarterly dividends. All dividends are payable on September 1, 2012 to shareholders of record on August 15, 2012.
Common Shares | $ | 0.28250 |
Preference Shares, Series A | $ | 0.34375 |
Preference Shares, Series B | $ | 0.25000 |
Preference Shares, Series D | $ | 0.25000 |
Preference Shares, Series F | $ | 0.25000 |
Preference Shares, Series H1 | $ | 0.42470 |
Preference Shares, Series J2 | US$ | 0.36990 |
Preference Shares, Series L3 | US$ | 0.27670 |
CONFERENCE CALL
Enbridge will hold a conference call on Thursday, August 2, 2012 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time (7:00 a.m. Mountain Time) to discuss the second quarter 2012 results. Analysts, members of the media and other interested parties can access the call at 617-597-5313 or toll-free at 1-866-362-4666 using the access code of 40728322. The call will be audio webcast live at http://www.enbridge.com/InvestorRelations/Events.aspx. A webcast replay and podcast will be available approximately two hours after the conclusion of the event and a transcript will be posted to the website within 24 hours. The replay at toll-free 1-888-286-8010 or 617-801-6888 (access code 46996724) will be available until August 9, 2012.
The conference call will begin with presentations by the Company's Chief Executive Officer, the President and the Chief Financial Officer, followed by a question and answer period for investment analysts. A question and answer period for members of the media will then immediately follow.
The unaudited interim Consolidated Financial Statements and MD&A, which contain additional notes and disclosures, are available on the Enbridge website at www.enbridge.com/InvestorRelations.aspx.
Enbridge Inc., a Canadian company, is a North American leader in delivering energy and one of the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations. As a transporter of energy, Enbridge operates, in Canada and the U.S., the world's longest crude oil and liquids transportation system. The Company also has a significant and growing involvement in the natural gas gathering transmission and midstream businesses, and an increasing involvement in power transmission. As a distributor of energy, Enbridge owns and operates Canada's largest natural gas distribution company, and provides distribution services in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and New York State. Enbridge employs more than 7,000 people, primarily in Canada and the U.S., and is ranked as one of Canada's Greenest Employers and one of the Top 100 Companies to Work for in Canada. Enbridge's common shares trade on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges under the symbol ENB. For more information, visit www.enbridge.com. None of the information contained in, or connected to, Enbridge's website is incorporated in or otherwise part of this news release.
Forward-Looking Information
Forward-looking information, or forward-looking statements, have been included in this news release to provide the Company's shareholders and potential investors with information about the Company and its subsidiaries and affiliates, including management's assessment of Enbridge's and its subsidiaries' future plans and operations. This information may not be appropriate for other purposes. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as "anticipate", "expect", "project", "estimate", "forecast", "plan", "intend", "target", "believe" and similar words suggesting future outcomes or statements regarding an outlook. Forward-looking information or statements included or incorporated by reference in this document include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: expected earnings or adjusted earnings; expected earnings or adjusted earnings per share; expected costs related to projects under construction; expected in-service dates for projects under construction; expected capital expenditures; estimated future dividends; and expected costs related to leak remediation and potential insurance recoveries.
Although Enbridge believes that these forward-looking statements are reasonable based on the information available on the date such statements are made and processes used to prepare the information, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and readers are cautioned against placing undue reliance on forward-looking statements. By their nature, these statements involve a variety of assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results, levels of activity and achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Material assumptions include assumptions about: the expected supply and demand for crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGL); prices of crude oil, natural gas and NGL; expected exchange rates; inflation; interest rates; the availability and price of labour and pipeline construction materials; operational reliability; customer project approvals; maintenance of support and regulatory approvals for the Company's projects; anticipated in-service dates; and weather. Assumptions regarding the expected supply and demand of crude oil, natural gas and NGL, and the prices of these commodities, are material to and underlie all forward-looking statements. These factors are relevant to all forward-looking statements as they may impact current and future levels of demand for the Company's services. Similarly, exchange rates, inflation and interest rates impact the economies and business environments in which the Company operates, may impact levels of demand for the Company's services and cost of inputs, and are therefore inherent in all forward-looking statements. Due to the interdependencies and correlation of these macroeconomic factors, the impact of any one assumption on a forward-looking statement cannot be determined with certainty, particularly with respect to expected earnings or adjusted earnings and associated per share amounts, or estimated future dividends. The most relevant assumptions associated with forward-looking statements on projects under construction, including estimated in-service dates, and expected capital expenditures include: the availability and price of labour and pipeline construction materials; the effects of inflation and foreign exchange rates on labour and material costs; the effects of interest rates on borrowing costs; and the impact of weather and customer and regulatory approvals on construction schedules.
Enbridge's forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties pertaining to operating performance, regulatory parameters, project approval and support, weather, economic and competitive conditions, exchange rates, interest rates, commodity prices and supply and demand for commodities, including but not limited to those risks and uncertainties discussed in this news release and in the Company's other filings with Canadian and United States securities regulators. The impact of any one risk, uncertainty or factor on a particular forward-looking statement is not determinable with certainty as these are interdependent and Enbridge's future course of action depends on management's assessment of all information available at the relevant time. Except to the extent required by law, Enbridge assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements made in this news release or otherwise, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. All subsequent forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, attributable to Enbridge or persons acting on the Company's behalf, are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements.
Non-GAAP Measures
This news release contains references to adjusted earnings/(loss), which represent earnings or loss attributable to common shareholders adjusted for non-recurring or non-operating factors on both a consolidated and segmented basis. These factors are reconciled and discussed in the financial results sections for the affected business segments. Management believes that the presentation of adjusted earnings/(loss) provides useful information to investors and shareholders as it provides increased transparency and predictive value. Management uses adjusted earnings/(loss) to set targets, assess performance of the Company and set the Company's dividend payout target. Adjusted earnings/(loss) and adjusted earnings/(loss) for each of the segments are not measures that have a standardized meaning prescribed by U.S. GAAP and are not considered GAAP measures; therefore, these measures may not be comparable with similar measures presented by other issuers.
HIGHLIGHTS
Three months ended | Six months ended | |||||
June 30, | June 30, | |||||
2012 | 2011 | 2012 | 2011 | |||
(unaudited; millions of Canadian dollars, except per share amounts) | ||||||
Earnings attributable to common shareholders | ||||||
Liquids Pipelines | 119 | 197 | 310 | 333 | ||
Gas Distribution | 20 | 40 | 98 | 142 | ||
Gas Pipelines, Processing and Energy Services | (114) | 77 | (225) | 103 | ||
Sponsored Investments | 65 | 64 | 131 | 119 | ||
Corporate | (79) | (76) | (39) | (31) | ||
11 | 302 | 275 | 666 | |||
Earnings per common share1 | 0.01 | 0.40 | 0.36 | 0.89 | ||
Diluted earnings per common share1 | 0.01 | 0.40 | 0.35 | 0.88 | ||
Adjusted earnings2 | ||||||
Liquids Pipelines | 152 | 124 | 310 | 260 | ||
Gas Distribution | 29 | 38 | 131 | 129 | ||
Gas Pipelines, Processing and Energy Services | 45 | 42 | 81 | 81 | ||
Sponsored Investments | 60 | 56 | 127 | 109 | ||
Corporate | (9) | (2) | 4 | 9 | ||
277 | 258 | 653 | 588 | |||
Adjusted earnings per common share1 | 0.36 | 0.34 | 0.86 | 0.78 | ||
Cash flow data | ||||||
Cash provided by operating activities | 984 | 696 | 1,632 | 1,859 | ||
Cash used in investing activities | (1,475) | (839) | (2,403) | (1,486) | ||
Cash provided by/(used in) financing activities | 58 | 130 | 721 | (171) | ||
Dividends | ||||||
Common share dividends declared | 217 | 190 | 438 | 378 | ||
Dividends paid per common share1 | 0.2825 | 0.2450 | 0.5650 | 0.4900 | ||
Shares outstanding (millions) | ||||||
Weighted average common shares outstanding1 | 770 | 752 | 763 | 750 | ||
Diluted weighted average common shares outstanding1 | 783 | 762 | 775 | 760 | ||
Operating data | ||||||
Liquids Pipelines - Average deliveries (thousands of barrels per day) | ||||||
Canadian Mainline3 | 1,659 | 1,459 | 1,673 | 1,532 | ||
Regional Oil Sands System4 | 298 | 291 | 315 | 310 | ||
Spearhead Pipeline | 175 | 57 | 160 | 108 | ||
Gas Distribution - Enbridge Gas Distribution (EGD) | ||||||
Volumes (billions of cubic feet) | 66 | 75 | 227 | 268 | ||
Number of active customers (thousands)5 | 2,001 | 1,971 | 2,001 | 1,971 | ||
Heating degree days6 | ||||||
Actual | 416 | 485 | 1,906 | 2,451 | ||
Forecast based on normal weather | 478 | 495 | 2,248 | 2,297 | ||
Gas Pipelines, Processing and Energy Services - Average throughput volume (millions of cubic feet per day) | ||||||
Alliance Pipeline US | 1,536 | 1,519 | 1,582 | 1,601 | ||
Vector Pipeline | 1,423 | 1,395 | 1,588 | 1,572 | ||
Enbridge Offshore Pipelines | 1,602 | 1,732 | 1,552 | 1,741 | ||
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