CALGARY, ALBERTA–(Marketwired – Nov. 28, 2017) – News Release – TransCanada Corporation (TSX:TRP) (NYSE:TRP) (TransCanada) will host its annual Investor Day in Toronto today where it will provide a financial update and review strategic plans for its natural gas pipelines, liquids pipelines and energy businesses.
“Today, our $86 billion high-quality portfolio of energy infrastructure assets is performing very well,” said Russ Girling, TransCanada’s president and chief executive officer. “Looking forward, we are advancing $24 billion in commercially secured near-term growth projects that will expand and extend our asset footprint across North America.”
As those projects enter service, TransCanada expects comparable earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) to grow at an average annual rate of approximately 10 per cent between 2015 and 2020. Significantly, over 95 per cent of the Company’s EBITDA is expected to come from regulated businesses or long-term contracted assets.
At the same time, the company continues to advance a series of additional opportunities that are expected to result in further growth in EBITDA beyond 2020. The portfolio is comprised of more than $20 billion in projects in development including Keystone XL, the Bruce Power life extension program and Coastal GasLink as well as numerous other organic growth projects that are expected to emanate from TransCanada’s natural gas pipelines, liquids pipelines and energy businesses in Canada, the United States and Mexico.
“Based on the confidence we have in our business plans, today we are reaffirming that we expect to grow our common share dividend at an average annual rate at the upper end of an eight to 10 per cent range through 2020,” added Girling. “We are also extending our outlook to 2021 when we expect the common share dividend to grow by an additional eight to 10 per cent. Notably, our dividend outlook is supported by expected growth in earnings and cash flow with strong dividend coverage ratios, providing us the financial flexibility to prudently fund our significant capital program.”
On November 9, 2017, TransCanada announced that its Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.625 per common share for the quarter ending December 31, 2017. The quarterly amount equates to $2.50 per common share on an annualized basis and represents a 10 per cent increase over the amount declared in 2016. TransCanada’s Board of Directors has increased the common share dividend in each of the last seventeen years, from $0.80 per common share in 2000 to $2.50 per common share in 2017.
Today’s investor event will be webcast beginning at 8 a.m. EST (6 a.m. MST). Interested parties may participate in the webcast available on TransCanada’s website in the Investors section at https://www.transcanada.com/en/investors/events/. A copy of the presentation and the webcast, which will be archived and accessible for replay, will be available on the website.