CALGARY, ALBERTA–(Marketwired – Feb. 10, 2015) –
HIGHLIGHTS
(all financial figures are unaudited and in Canadian dollars)
Enbridge Income Fund Holdings Inc. (TSX:ENF) announced today earnings of $28.5 million or $0.44 per common share for the three months ended December 31, 2014 and earnings of $93.6 million or $1.60 per common share for the year ended December 31, 2014, reflecting the performance of its investment in Enbridge Income Fund.
On November 7, 2014, the Company and the Fund completed a $1.76 billion transaction (the 2014 Transaction) whereby indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Fund acquired from indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries of Enbridge Inc. (Enbridge) a 50% interest in the U.S. segment of the Alliance Pipeline (Alliance US) and subscribed for and purchased Class A Units which provide a defined cash flow stream from the Canadian and U.S. portions of the Southern Lights Pipeline (Southern Lights Class A Units).
The Company’s financial performance is a direct reflection of the Fund’s ability to generate cash for distribution to its unitholders. The Fund’s CAFD totaled $275.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2014, compared with $263.2 million in the prior year. On an adjusted basis, the Fund’s 12 months earnings were $110.7 million compared to $98.1 million in the same period of 2013. The increases in CAFD and adjusted earnings were primarily due to incremental cash flow generated by the Liquids Transportation and Storage segment resulting from improved throughputs and a full period of cash flow from the Bakken Expansion which commenced service on March 1, 2013.
“Our 2014 results reflect solid performance from our base businesses and the successful execution of our strategy to expand our diversified portfolio of high quality infrastructure investments,” said Enbridge Income Fund Holdings Inc. President Perry Schuldhaus. “At $1.76 billion, this recent transaction is the most significant the Fund has undertaken since its inception in 2003 and the assets are providing the stable, low-risk cash flows our investors expect. Although the impact of this transaction on our 2014 results was minimal, it has set the stage for an even stronger 2015, supporting the 12% increase in our monthly dividend declared by our Board on closing. In addition, our ability to efficiently raise over $1.4 billion of debt and equity further enhances our capital market presence and ongoing access to the capital markets to fund our business plan, including the transformational transaction proposed by Enbridge Inc.”
On December 3, 2014, Enbridge advised the Fund and the Company that it intends to make a proposal to transfer its Canadian Liquids Pipelines business, as well as certain Canadian renewable energy assets, to the Fund (the Proposal). The assets have a combined carrying value of $17 billion with an associated secured growth capital program of approximately $15 billion. In its December announcement, Enbridge indicated that it expected an investment by ENF in these businesses would result in an average growth rate in the dividend on ENF’s common shares of 10% per year from 2015 through 2018. The Fund and the Company have not yet received the Proposal from Enbridge. Enbridge has indicated that it is targeting this process to be complete mid-2015. A Joint Special Committee of independent directors and trustees of Enbridge Commercial Trust (ECT) has been formed to assess the Proposal.
“The proposed asset acquisition from Enbridge would be transformative for the Fund and the Company,” commented Mr. Schuldhaus. “The assets are crucial Canadian energy infrastructure assets that are integral to the Enbridge family and have the potential to provide long-term visible growth for our investors. Following receipt of the Proposal, the Committee will work to evaluate the assets over the next few months in a well-established process that has led to the successful execution of the three previous transactions with Enbridge.”
On February 9, 2015, the Company’s Board of Directors approved a monthly cash dividend of $0.1285 per common share to be paid on March 16, 2015 to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 2, 2015. The dividend is designated an eligible dividend for Canadian tax purposes which qualifies for the enhanced dividend tax credit.
FOURTH QUARTER 2014 REVIEW
The audited financial statements and Management’s Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) of both the Company and the Fund, which contain additional notes and disclosures, are available on the Company’s website at www.enbridgeincomefund.com.
ABOUT ENBRIDGE INCOME FUND HOLDINGS INC.
Enbridge Income Fund Holdings Inc. is a publicly traded corporation. The Company, through its investment in Enbridge Income Fund, holds high quality, low risk energy infrastructure assets. The Fund’s assets include interests in more than 500 megawatts of renewable and alternative power generation capacity, a portfolio of liquids transportation and storage businesses including Class A units entitling the holder to receive defined cash flows from the Southern Lights Pipeline and a 50 percent interest in the Alliance Pipeline. Information about Enbridge Income Fund Holdings Inc. is available on the Company’s website at www.enbridgeincomefund.com.
FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
In the interest of providing the Company’s shareholders and potential investors with information about the Company and its investee, the Fund, and the Fund’s subsidiaries and joint ventures, including management’s assessment of future plans and operations of the Company and the Fund, certain information provided in this News Release constitutes forward-looking statements or information (collectively, “forward-looking statements”). This information may not be appropriate for other purposes. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as “anticipate”, “expect”, “project”, “estimate”, “forecast”, “plan”, “intend”, “target”, “believe” and similar words suggesting future outcomes or statements regarding an outlook. In particular, forward-looking statements include:
Although the Company believes that these forward-looking statements are reasonable based on the information available on the date such statements are made and the processes used to prepare the information, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and readers are cautioned against placing undue reliance on forward-looking statements. By their nature, these statements involve a variety of assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results, levels of activity and achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Material assumptions include assumptions about: the expected supply, demand and prices for crude oil, natural gas, natural gas liquids and green energy; expected exchange rates; inflation; interest rates; the availability and price of labour and construction materials; operational reliability; customer project approvals; maintenance of support and regulatory approval for the Fund’s projects and transactions; anticipated in-service dates; and weather. Assumptions regarding the expected supply and demand of crude oil, natural gas, natural gas liquids and green energy, and the prices of these commodities, are material to and underlie all forward-looking statements. These factors are relevant to all forward-looking statements as they may impact current and future levels of demand for the Fund’s products and services. Similarly, exchange rates, inflation and interest rates impact the economies and business environments in which the Company and the Fund operate, may impact levels of demand for the Fund’s products, services and cost of inputs, and are therefore inherent in all forward-looking statements. Due to the interdependencies and correlation of these macroeconomic factors, the impact of any one assumption on a forward-looking statement cannot be determined with certainty, particularly with respect to expected earnings and associated per share or per unit amounts, or estimated future distributions or dividends.
The most relevant assumptions associated with forward-looking statements on projects under construction, including estimated in-service dates and expected capital expenditures, include: the availability and price of labour and construction materials; the effects of inflation on labour and material costs; the effects of interest rates on borrowing costs; and the impact of weather, customer and regulatory approvals on construction schedules. The Company’s forward-looking statements and forward-looking statements with respect to the Fund are subject to risks and uncertainties pertaining to operating performance, regulatory parameters, project approval and support, weather, economic and competitive conditions, changes in tax laws and tax rates, exchange rates, interest rates and commodity prices, including but not limited to those risks and uncertainties discussed in this News Release and in the other filings of the Company and the Fund with Canadian securities regulators. The impact of any one risk, uncertainty or factor on a particular forward-looking statement is not determinable with certainty as these are interdependent and the Company’s and the Fund’s future course of action depends on management’s assessment of all information available at the relevant time. Except to the extent required by law, the Company and the Fund assume no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements made in this News Release or otherwise, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. All subsequent forward-looking statements whether written or oral, attributable to the Company or the Fund or persons acting on the Company’s or the Fund’s behalf, are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements.
NON-GAAP MEASURES
This News Release contains references to adjusted earnings and cash available for distribution (CAFD). Adjusted earnings represents earnings adjusted for unusual, non-recurring or non-operating factors on both a consolidated and segmented basis. These factors, referred to as adjusting items, are reconciled and discussed in the financial results sections. CAFD represents the Fund’s cash available to fund distributions on trust units and ECT preferred units as well as for debt repayments and reserves. CAFD consists of operating cash flow from the Fund’s underlying businesses less deductions for maintenance capital expenditures, the Fund’s administrative and operating expenses, corporate segment interest expense, applicable taxes and other reserves pertaining to items of an unusual or transient nature which are not indicative of the underlying or sustainable cash flows of the business. CAFD is important to unitholders as the Fund’s objective is to provide a predictable flow of distributions to unitholders.
Management believes the presentation of adjusted earnings and CAFD provides useful information to investors and unitholders as it provides increased transparency and predictive value. Management uses adjusted earnings and CAFD to set targets, including the Fund’s distribution payout target, and to assess the performance of the Company. Adjusted earnings and CAFD are not measures that have standardized meaning prescribed by United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (U.S. GAAP) and are not considered U.S. GAAP measures. Therefore, these measures may not be comparable with similar measures presented by other issuers. The following table summarizes the reconciliation of the GAAP and non-GAAP measures.
NON-GAAP RECONCILIATIONS
Adjusted earnings1
Three months ended December 31, | Year ended December 31, | ||||||||
2014 | 2013 | 2014 | 2013 | ||||||
(unaudited; millions of Canadian dollars) | |||||||||
Earnings2 | 26.2 | 32.7 | 150.0 | 117.4 | |||||
Add/(deduct): 3 | |||||||||
Retrospective adjustments – Alliance US2 | (4.6 | ) | (10.6 | ) | (38.6 | ) | (37.6 | ) | |
Greenwich Wind Facility transformer outage | 0.5 | – | 3.0 | – | |||||
Changes in unrealized derivative fair value losses | 18.7 | – | 18.7 | – | |||||
Extraordinary item – Westspur System rate regulated accounting deferral write-off | – | – | – | 12.0 | |||||
Bakken Expansion make-up rights | (2.1 | ) | 0.8 | (0.2 | ) | 3.3 | |||
Hardisty Contract Terminal – non-cash project costs write-off | – | – | – | 1.4 | |||||
Realized gain on Southern Lights subscription price | (4.2 | ) | – | (13.0 | ) | – | |||
Alliance Canada – unrecoverable regulatory costs | – | – | – | 1.6 | |||||
Unrealized foreign exchange gain on intercompany loan and other | (14.9 | ) | – | (14.9 | ) | – | |||
2014 Transaction costs | 0.9 | – | 5.7 | – | |||||
Adjusted earnings | 20.5 | 22.9 | 110.7 | 98.1 |
1 | Adjusted earnings is a non-GAAP measure that does not have any standardized meaning prescribed by U.S. GAAP. See definition within “Non-GAAP Measures” section. |
2 | In accordance with U.S. GAAP, earnings for all 2014 and 2013 periods have been retrospectively adjusted to furnish comparative information related to Alliance US. The impact of the retrospective adjustments has been removed from adjusted earnings to reflect earnings generated under the Fund’s ownership effective November 7, 2014. |
3 | Adjusting items are shown net of tax in this reconciliation if incurred within a taxable subsidiary corporation of the Fund. |
Cash available for distribution1 | |||||||||
Three months ended December 31, | Year ended December 31, | ||||||||
2014 | 2013 | 2014 | 2013 | ||||||
(unaudited; millions of Canadian dollars) | |||||||||
Cash provided by operating activities2 | 75.8 | 87.0 | 322.6 | 306.2 | |||||
Add/(deduct): | |||||||||
Retrospective cash flows – Alliance US2 | (15.2 | ) | (8.5 | ) | (53.3 | ) | (39.1 | ) | |
Green Power maintenance capital expenditures3 | (0.6 | ) | (0.7 | ) | (1.0 | ) | (1.6 | ) | |
Green Power joint venture cash distributed/(retained)4 | (0.3 | ) | – | (0.1 | ) | 0.8 | |||
Greenwich Wind Facility transformer outage5 | 0.3 | – | 2.2 | – | |||||
Liquids Transportation and Storage maintenance capital expenditures3 | (5.9 | ) | (1.8 | ) | (12.0 | ) | (9.9 | ) | |
Realized gain on Southern Lights subscription price5 | (18.2 | ) | – | (18.2 | ) | – | |||
Southern Lights Class A Units return of capital | 1.6 | – | 1.6 | – | |||||
2014 Transaction costs5 | 0.9 | – | 5.7 | – | |||||
Change in operating assets and liabilities in the period2 | 23.0 | (11.0 | ) | 27.5 | 6.8 | ||||
Cash available for distribution | 61.4 | 65.0 | 275.0 | 263.2 |
1 | Cash available for distribution is a non-GAAP measure that does not have any standardized meaning prescribed by U.S. GAAP. See definition within “Non-GAAP Measures” section. |
2 | In accordance with U.S. GAAP, cash provided by operating activities for all 2014 and 2013 periods has been retrospectively adjusted to furnish comparative information related to Alliance US. The impact of the retrospective adjustments has been eliminated from CAFD as these cash flows were not available to distribute to unitholders. |
3 | Maintenance capital expenditures reduce cash available for distribution since these expenditures are funded through cash from operations. |
4 | The cash retained or distributed by certain Green Power joint ventures reflects the cash from operations of these segments that has not been distributed to the Fund or distributions in excess of cash earnings in the period. While this cash from operations is proportionately consolidated and included in the Fund’s cash provided by operating activities, it is not available for distribution by the Fund until it has been received. |
5 | Cash available for distribution includes reserves pertaining to items of an unusual or transient nature which are not indicative of the underlying or sustainable cash flows of the business. |
SELECTED FINANCIAL AND OPERATING HIGHLIGHTS
Three months ended December 31, | Year ended December 31, | ||||||||
ENBRIDGE INCOME FUND HOLDINGS INC. | 2014 | 2013 | 2014 | 2013 | |||||
(unaudited; millions of Canadian dollars, except share and per share amounts) | |||||||||
Earnings | 28.5 | 22.1 | 93.6 | 86.6 | |||||
Earnings per common share, basic and diluted | $ | 0.44 | $ | 0.39 | $ | 1.60 | $ | 1.55 | |
Cash provided by operating activities | 25.6 | 22.8 | 87.8 | 92.2 | |||||
Dividends declared | 25.8 | 19.2 | 84.1 | 75.3 | |||||
Dividends declared per common share | $ | 0.372 | $ | 0.340 | $ | 1.404 | $ | 1.342 | |
Number of common shares outstanding | 70,351,000 | 56,491,000 | |||||||
Three months ended December 31, | Year ended December 31, | |||||||||
ENBRIDGE INCOME FUND | 2014 | 2013 | 2014 | 2013 | ||||||
(unaudited; millions of Canadian dollars, except unit and per unit amounts) | ||||||||||
Earnings1 | ||||||||||
Green Power | 18.4 | 23.6 | 89.3 | 94.2 | ||||||
Liquids Transportation and Storage | 9.6 | 16.5 | 84.9 | 50.7 | ||||||
Natural Gas Transmission | 20.0 | 12.8 | 68.6 | 54.1 | ||||||
Corporate | (26.4 | ) | (30.8 | ) | (131.4 | ) | (119.2 | ) | ||
21.6 | 22.1 | 111.4 | 79.8 | |||||||
Retrospective Adjustments2 | 4.6 | 10.6 | 38.6 | 37.6 | ||||||
26.2 | 32.7 | 150.0 | 117.4 | |||||||
Adjusted earnings3 | ||||||||||
Green Power | 18.9 | 23.6 | 92.3 | 94.2 | ||||||
Liquids Transportation and Storage | 19.3 | 17.3 | 82.4 | 72.4 | ||||||
Natural Gas Transmission | 25.6 | 12.8 | 74.2 | 56.2 | ||||||
Corporate | (43.3 | ) | (30.8 | ) | (138.2 | ) | (124.7 | ) | ||
20.5 | 22.9 | 110.7 | 98.1 | |||||||
Cash available for distribution3 | ||||||||||
Green Power | 34.2 | 38.5 | 155.6 | 155.8 | ||||||
Liquids Transportation and Storage | 37.8 | 33.1 | 148.6 | 130.2 | ||||||
Natural Gas Transmission | 17.8 | 16.8 | 74.2 | 68.4 | ||||||
Corporate | (28.4 | ) | (23.4 | ) | (103.4 | ) | (91.2 | ) | ||
61.4 | 65.0 | 275.0 | 263.2 | |||||||
Cash provided by operating activities2 | 75.8 | 87.0 | 322.6 | 306.2 | ||||||
Distributions | ||||||||||
Cash distributions declared | 71.5 | 56.1 | 240.0 | 221.9 | ||||||
Distributions declared per trust unit and ECT preferred unit | $0.450 | $0.405 | $1.667 | $1.612 | ||||||
Units outstanding | ||||||||||
ECT preferred units | 87,665,750 | 72,465,750 | ||||||||
Trust units | 79,851,000 | 65,991,000 | ||||||||
Operating Results | ||||||||||
Green Power (thousands of megawatt hours produced) | ||||||||||
Wind Facilities | 324.0 | 350.8 | 1,099.6 | 1,149.0 | ||||||
Solar Facilities | 20.5 | 23.3 | 152.1 | 147.8 | ||||||
Waste Heat Facilities | 20.8 | 19.7 | 70.9 | 70.7 | ||||||
Liquids Transportation and Storage (thousands of barrels per day) | ||||||||||
Westspur System | 184.4 | 170.6 | 180.8 | 164.3 | ||||||
Saskatchewan Gathering System | 147.1 | 130.1 | 141.9 | 119.5 | ||||||
Weyburn System | 30.0 | 31.6 | 31.3 | 31.5 | ||||||
Virden System | 20.1 | 26.4 | 21.5 | 24.5 | ||||||
Bakken Expansion | 77.5 | 4.1 | 49.6 | 9.8 | ||||||
Natural Gas Transmission (millions of cubic feet per day) | ||||||||||
Alliance Canada | 1,547.0 | 1,552.0 | 1,556.0 | 1,565.0 | ||||||
Alliance US | 1,693.0 | 1,636.0 | 1,682.0 | 1,652.0 |
1 | Financial Highlights for Enbridge Income Fund have been extracted from consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. |
2 | In accordance with U.S. GAAP, earnings and cash provided by operating activities for all 2014 and 2013 periods have been retrospectively adjusted to furnish comparative information related to Alliance US. Financing charges have not been retrospectively adjusted. The impact of the retrospective adjustments has been eliminated from CAFD as these cash flows were not available to distribute to unitholders. |
3 | See Non-GAAP Measures. |
Enbridge Income Fund Holdings Inc. – Media
Graham White
(403) 508-6563 / (888) 992-0997
graham.white@enbridge.com
Enbridge Income Fund Holdings Inc. – Investment Community
Teri Majer
(403) 508-3185
teri.majer@enbridge.com
www.enbridgeincomefund.com