Spectra Energy Reports First Quarter 2013 Results

HOUSTON, May 3, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- 

• Reported net income from controlling interests of $340 million, $0.51 earnings per share (EPS), compared with $333 million, $0.51 EPS, in the prior year quarter.
• First quarter 2013 earnings in line with company expectations.
• Express-Platte Pipeline System acquisition closed ahead of schedule.
• MLP drop-down strategy and continued execution of growth plans emphasize long term value creation.

Spectra Energy Corp (NYSE: SE) reported 2013 first quarter net income from controlling interests of $340 million, or $0.51 diluted EPS, compared with $333 million, or $0.51 diluted EPS, in the prior year quarter. Ongoing net income from controlling interests for the 2013 quarter was $340 million, or $0.51 diluted EPS, compared with $331 million, or $0.51 diluted EPS, in the prior year quarter.

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"Spectra Energy's fee-based businesses continued to generate strong earnings and cash flows," said Greg Ebel, president and chief executive officer, Spectra Energy Corp.  "Our ability to deliver value to investors through the continued execution of our expansion projects and the advancement of our MLP drop-down strategy was further enhanced during the quarter with our acquisition of the Express-Platte Pipeline System." 

BUSINESS EXPANSION UPDATES

Currently, Spectra Energy is executing on more than $6 billion of expansion projects.  In the U.S., the NJ-NY Expansion Project is more than 70 percent complete and is on track to enter service in late 2013.  Additionally, AIM and Renaissance are moving closer to final decision as the demand for natural gas continues to grow in the northeast and southeast United States.  In line with that demand, the company recently submitted a proposal to build a third major natural gas pipeline into Florida in 2017. A final investment decision on these projects is expected in the coming months. The company also continues to pursue project opportunities in the Utica with the OPEN and NEXUS projects.  

In Western Canada, Spectra Energy's Dawson Processing Plant is now fully in service with Phase 2 completed in early 2013.  Likewise, the final phase of the Fort Nelson North Processing Facility expansion was completed during the first quarter and now offers more than 1.2 Bcf per day of processing and gathering capacity in the Fort Nelson area.  Spectra Energy continues to see about $7 billion in expansion growth opportunities on the horizon in this area. 

The previously announced Express-Platte Pipeline System acquisition closed in mid-March, and the company is seeing increased utilization on the Express pipeline, with the Platte pipeline already at full capacity.  Spectra Energy also is making good progress on the Sand Hills and Southern Hills NGL pipelines and expects them to be fully in-service by mid 2013.  The company continues to see ongoing growth potential in the Liquids segment.

SEGMENT RESULTS

U.S. Transmission           

U.S. Transmission reported first quarter 2013 earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of $266 million, compared with $271 million in first quarter 2012.  An increase in business expansion EBIT was more than offset by anticipated lower storage and transportation revenues.

Distribution

Distribution reported first quarter 2013 EBIT of $168 million, compared with $151 million in first quarter 2012. The increase is mainly due to higher customer usage as compared to last year when weather was warmer than normal.

Western Canada Transmission and Processing

Western Canada Transmission and Processing reported first quarter 2013 EBIT of $111 million, compared with $138 million in first quarter 2012.  The segment results reflect lower earnings in the conventional gathering and processing business, driven by anticipated lower contracted volumes and lower interruptible revenue.  The segment also experienced positive EBIT at the Empress natural gas liquids (NGL) business for the quarter; however, primarily due to lower propane sale prices, earnings were lower than first quarter last year.

Field Services

Field Services reported first quarter 2013 EBIT of $88 million, compared with $93 million in first quarter 2012. The decrease in EBIT was mainly driven by lower natural gas liquids prices and volumes in the first quarter 2013.  These decreases were partially offset by an increase in gains on units issued by DCP Partners and a reduction in depreciation expense.

During the first quarters of 2013 and 2012, respectively, DCP's realized NGL prices averaged $0.74 per gallon versus $1.00 per gallon, NYMEX natural gas averaged $3.34 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) versus $2.74 per MMBtu, and crude oil averaged approximately $95 per barrel versus approximately $103 per barrel.

DCP Midstream paid distributions of $52 million to Spectra Energy in first quarter 2013.

Liquids

The acquisition of the Express-Platte Pipeline System closed ahead of schedule in March.  Express-Platte is a 1,717 mile pipeline system that transports western Canadian and U.S. produced crude to U.S. refineries.  Express-Platte forms a significant part of the Liquids segment, along with our fourth quarter 2012 equity investments in Sand Hills Pipeline and Southern Hills Pipeline.

Liquids reported first quarter 2013 EBIT of $6 million, consisting primarily of Express-Platte system results from the partial month ownership in March.

Other

"Other" reported net costs of $26 million and $29 million in the first quarters of 2013 and 2012, respectively.  Other is primarily comprised of corporate costs, including benefits and captive insurance.

Interest Expense

Interest expense was $149 million for first quarter 2013 compared with $157 million for first quarter 2012.  The decrease is driven by higher capitalized interest.

Income Taxes

First quarter 2013 income tax expense from continuing operations was $130 million, compared with $137 million reported in the first quarter of 2012.  The effective tax rate was 26 percent in the first quarter of 2013, compared with 28 percent in the first quarter of 2012.  The lower tax expense and effective tax rate was primarily driven by a lower Canadian effective tax rate. 

Additional Information

Additional information about first quarter 2013 earnings can be obtained via the Spectra Energy Web site: www.spectraenergy.com.

The analyst call is scheduled for today, Friday, May 3, 2013, at 8:00 a.m. CT. The webcast can be accessed via the Investors Section of Spectra Energy's Web site or the conference call can be accessed by dialing (888) 252-3715 in the United States or Canada, or (706) 634-8942 for International. The conference code is "31675921" or "Spectra Energy Quarterly Earnings Call."

Please call five to ten minutes prior to the scheduled start time. A replay of the call will be available until 5:00 p.m. CT, July 31, 2013, by dialing (800) 585-8367 with conference ID 31675921. The international replay number is (404) 537-3406, with the above conference ID. A replay and transcript also will be available by accessing the Investors Section of the company's Web site.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

We use ongoing net income from controlling interests and ongoing diluted EPS as measures to evaluate operations of the company.  These measures are non-GAAP financial measures as they represent net income from controlling interests and diluted EPS, adjusted for special items and discontinued operations. Special items represent certain charges and credits which we believe will not be recurring on a regular basis, and discontinued operations do not represent our ongoing core business. We believe that the presentation of ongoing net income and ongoing diluted EPS provide useful information to investors, as it allows them to more accurately compare our ongoing performance across periods. The most directly comparable GAAP measures for ongoing net income from controlling interests and ongoing diluted EPS are net income from controlling interests and diluted EPS, including any special items.

The primary performance measure used by us to evaluate segment performance is segment EBIT from continuing operations, which at the segment level represents earnings from continuing operations (both operating and non-operating) before interest and taxes, net of noncontrolling interests related to those earnings. We consider segment EBIT, which is the GAAP measure used to report segment results, to be a good indicator of each segment's operating performance from its continuing operations as it represents the results of our ownership interest in operations without regard to financing methods or capital structures.

We also use ongoing segment EBIT and Other EBIT (net costs) as measures of performance. Ongoing segment and Other EBIT are non-GAAP financial measures as they represent reported segment and Other EBIT adjusted for special items. We believe that the presentation of ongoing segment and Other EBIT provide useful information to investors, as they allow investors to more accurately compare a segment's or Other's ongoing performance across periods. The most directly comparable GAAP measures for ongoing segment or Other EBIT are reported segment or Other EBIT, which represent EBIT from continuing operations, including any special items.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements are based on our beliefs and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are identified by terms and phrases such as: anticipate, believe, intend, estimate, expect, continue, should, could, may, plan, project, predict, will, potential, forecast, and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to be materially different from the results predicted.  Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in any forward-looking statement include, but are not limited to: state, federal and foreign legislative and regulatory initiatives that affect cost and investment recovery, have an effect on rate structure, and affect the speed at and degree to which competition enters the natural gas and oil industries; outcomes of litigation and regulatory investigations, proceedings or inquiries; weather and other natural phenomena, including the economic, operational and other effects of hurricanes and storms; the timing and extent of changes in commodity prices, interest rates and foreign currency exchange rates; general economic conditions, including the risk of a prolonged economic slowdown or decline, or the risk of delay in a recovery, which can affect the long-term demand for natural gas and oil and related services; potential effects arising from terrorist attacks and any consequential or other hostilities; changes in environmental, safety and other laws and regulations; the development of alternative energy resources; results and costs of financing efforts, including the ability to obtain financing on favorable terms, which can be affected by various factors, including credit ratings and general market and economic conditions; increases in the cost of goods and services required to complete capital projects; declines in the market prices of equity and debt securities and resulting funding requirements for defined benefit pension plans; growth in opportunities, including the timing and success of efforts to develop U.S. and Canadian pipeline, storage, gathering, processing and other related infrastructure projects and the effects of competition; the performance of natural gas and oil transmission and storage, distribution, and gathering and processing facilities; the extent of success in connecting natural gas and oil supplies to gathering, processing and transmission systems and in connecting to expanding gas and oil markets; the effects of accounting pronouncements issued periodically by accounting standard-setting bodies; conditions of the capital markets during the periods covered by forward-looking statements; and the ability to successfully complete merger, acquisition or divestiture plans; regulatory or other limitations imposed as a result of a merger, acquisition or divestiture; and the success of the business following a merger, acquisition or divestiture.  These factors, as well as additional factors that could affect our forward-looking statements, are described under the headings "Risk Factors" and "Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information" in our 2012 Form 10-K, filed on February 22, 2013, and in our other filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which are available via the SEC's Web site at www.sec.gov. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the events described in the forward-looking statements might not occur or might occur to a different extent or at a different time than we have described. All forward-looking statements in this release are made as of the date hereof and we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Spectra Energy Corp (NYSE: SE), a FORTUNE 500 company, is one of North America's premier pipeline and midstream companies. Based in Houston, Texas, the company's operations in the United States and Canada include more than 22,000 miles of natural gas, natural gas liquids, and crude oil pipelines, approximately 305 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas storage, as well as natural gas gathering and processing, and local distribution operations. The company also has a 50 percent ownership in DCP Midstream, the largest producer of natural gas liquids and one of the largest natural gas gatherers and processors in the United States. Spectra Energy has served North American customers and communities for more than a century.  The company's longstanding values are recognized through its inclusion in the Dow Jones Sustainability World and North America Indexes and the Carbon Disclosure Project's Global 500 and S&P 500 Carbon Disclosure Leadership Indexes. For more information, visit www.spectraenergy.com.

SOURCE Spectra Energy