TC Energy Heats Up: Q4 Sizzles, Dividend Boosted

TC Energy Corp TRP shares are trading higher after the company reported fourth-quarter results above estimates and raised its quarterly dividend.

In USD, Adjusted EPS of $0.99 beat the consensus of $0.83, and sales of $3.11 billion exceeded the estimate of $3.03 billion.

Segmented earnings improved to C$2.3 billion from a loss of C$(1.0) billion a year ago.

The Calgary, Canada-based company’s comparable EBITDA rose to C$3.1 billion from C$2.7 billion. 

U.S. Natural Gas Pipelines reported a comparable EBITDA of C$1.225 billion (vs. C$1.141 billion a year ago), and Canadian Natural Gas Pipelines’ comparable EBITDA rose to C$1.034 billion from C$768 million a year ago.

NGTL System deliveries averaged 14.5 Bcf/d, broadly flat Y/Y, and U.S. Natural Gas Pipelines deliveries averaged 2.8 Bcf/d, up 16% Y/Y.

Capital spending was C$2.99 billion compared to C$3.14 billion a year ago. In 2023, the company has placed around C$5.3 billion of projects on budget, including various expansion projects on its NGTL System.

Dividend: TC Energy’s Board of Directors approved a 3.2% increase in the quarterly dividend per share to C$0.96 for the quarter ending March 31, 2024, payable on April 30, 2024, to shareholders of record as of March 28, 2024.

FY24 Outlook: TC Energy expects comparable EBITDA of C$11.2 billion to C$11.5 billion, which remains consistent with its November 2023 Investor Day.

The outlook reflects growth related to increased comparable EBITDA from the NGTL System due to the advancement of expansion programs, the full-year impact of projects placed in service in 2023, and anticipated projects to be placed in service this year. 

The company projects comparable EPS to be lower than in 2023 due to the net impact of higher net income attributable to non-controlling interests on selling a 40% non-controlling stake in Columbia Gas Transmission and Columbia Gulf Transmission in 2023.

Price Action: TRP shares are up 2.02% at $39.38 on the last check Friday.