TransCanada boosts profits in second quarter in line with analyst estimates

CALGARY – TransCanada Corp (TSX:TRP) says it earned $365 million in its latest quarter, up from $272 million a year ago.

The pipeline and power company said the profit amounted to 52 cents per share for the quarter, up from 39 cents per share a year ago.

Revenue increased to $2.01 billion, up from $1.85 billion in the second quarter of 2012.

Comparable earnings, which excluded unrealized gains and losses on derivatives, totalled $357 million or 51 cents per share, up from $300 million or 43 cents per share a year ago.

“All three of our business segments generated strong results during the second quarter,” TransCanasda president and chief executive Russ Girling said in a statement.

“Higher power prices in Alberta, an increase in capacity prices in New York, the return to an eight unit site at Bruce Power and a higher Canadian Mainline allowed return on equity all contributed to a significant increase in earnings when compared to the same period last year.

TransCanada is awaiting approval of its long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline in the U.S.

The company said Friday that it expected the project to be in service about two years after it receives the required Presidential Permit.

TransCanada has said the US$5.3-billion price tag for the project will increase depending on the timing of the approval. The company has spent $1.9 billion on the project so far.

The Obama administration rejected an earlier iteration of the Keystone XL project — which would have run from Hardisty, Alta., to the Texas coast — last year because of environmental concerns in Nebraska.

The company responded by breaking up the project into two parts and going ahead with the southern leg between Oklahoma and the U.S. Gulf Coast, which does not require presidential approval.