TransCanada (TSX: TRP, Stock Forum) came out of 2014 with a relative smile when the company announced today that its net income attributable to common shares for Q4 2014 was $458.0 million or $0.65 per share versus $420.0 million or $0.59 per share reporting in the matching 2013 quarter.
According to the news release, year-end figures were up slightly with net income attributable to common shares hitting $1.7 billion or $2.46 per share compared to $1.7 billion or $2.42 per share filed in 2013.
The company's board of directors also announced a quarterly dividend totaling $0.52 per common share for Q1 2015 which is equivalent to $2.08 per common share on an annualized basis, representing an 8% increase. This is the fifteenth consecutive year that the board has raised the dividend.
Company President and CEO, Russ Girling, commented, “Comparable earnings and funds generated from operations in 2014 increased eight per cent and seven per cent, respectively compared to last year.”
He went on to explain, “Our strong performance reflects the diversity and stability of our complementary businesses and $3.8 billion of new assets that were placed into service in 2014. Looking forward, the resiliency of our business model and a strong balance sheet leaves us well positioned to continue to create shareholder value under various market conditions.”
Then continued, “With an additional $12 billion of small-to-medium sized projects expected to be completed and placed into service by the end of 2017, and the steps we have taken to solidify the long-term returns from existing assets such as the Canadian Mainline and ANR, we are also pleased to announce an eight per cent increase in the common share dividend.”
And finally concluded, “Our financial strength and flexibility provides us with the capacity to raise the dividend and to continue to prudently fund our industry-leading capital program.”
TransCanada was in the news recently when the Calgary-based company announced that it had sent a letter to the U.S. Department of State refuting the EPAs comments on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline's environmental analysis.
Shares edged up 0.26% to $58.65 per share on the news.
Currently there are 708.7m outstanding shares with a market cap of $41.6 billion.