CALGARY - Enbridge Inc. reported its first-quarter profit fell compared with a year ago as it was hit by a number of one-time charges.
The pipeline company says it earned $445 million or 26 cents per share for the three months ended March 31 compared with a profit of $638 million or 54 cents per share a year ago.
On an adjusted basis, Enbridge says it earned $1.38 billion or 82 cents per share for the quarter compared with $657 million or 57 cents per share in the first quarter of 2017.
Analysts had expected a profit of 66 cents per share for the quarter, according to Thomson Reuters.The report came a day after Enbridge announced more than $3 billion in asset sales in a pair of deals including a $1.75-billion agreement to sell a 49 per cent stake in a group of renewable power assets to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
In a separate deal, Enbridge said it will sell Midcoast Operating LP to an affiliate of private equity firm ArcLight Capital Partners LLC for about $1.44 billion.
And there could be more asset sales in the offing.
Enbridge CEO Al Monaco said in a release Thursday his company is “looking closely” at more divestitures of non-core assets based on interest from potential buyers.
Enbridge has been battling to shore up investor confidence amid concern about the company’s balance sheet in the wake of its $37-billion takeover of Spectra Energy in 2016.
Enbridge shares have lost 14 per cent of their value on the TSX year-to-date, as of the end of trading on Wednesday.
- With files from BNN Bloomberg
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