Kinder Morgan Canada’s quarterly profit down 5 pct on lower transported volumes

Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd ,operator of the Trans Mountain pipeline, reported on Wednesdayan 5.1 percent drop in first-quarter profit hurt by a fall involumes of crude oil and refined products transports.

Kinder Morgan Canada, which was spun off from parent KinderMorgan Inc in May last year, reported a net income ofC$44.4 million ($35.17 million) for the first quarter endedMarch 31, down from C$46.8 million for the same period lastyear.

The company, which earlier this month suspended work on itsexpansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline, moved 289,000 barrelsper day (bbl/d) of crude and refined products through thepipeline down from 307,000 (bbl/d) a year earlier.

Texas-based Kinder Morgan separately reported net incomeavailable to common stockholders of $485 million, or 22 centsper share, in the quarter to the end of March, compared with$401 million, or 18 cents per share, a year earlier.

(Reporting by Anirban Paul in Bengaluru and Julie Gordon inVancouverEditing by Lisa Shumaker)