Enbridge reported $1.3 billion in third-quarter earnings attributable to common shareholders, compared with approximately $700 million a year earlier. The Calgary-headquartered company said adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization reached $4.4 billion and that more than $3 billion in gas transmission projects had entered service. It reaffirmed its full-year financial guidance.
The company’s results show how the outlook for natural gas infrastructure is changing as utilities, exporters and large industrial electricity users seek more capacity. But investors should distinguish between reported net earnings and underlying operating performance: non-cash valuation changes can affect a company’s quarterly profit. Enbridge’s liquids pipeline business also faces lower volumes on certain routes and varying returns among contracted assets.
The results fit into an unusually busy reporting week for Alberta’s integrated oil producers and pipeline companies. For Calgary’s economy, the crucial questions are how much new capital will be spent in Canada, which suppliers and employees benefit, and how additional pipeline capacity affects producers’ access to markets. Strong corporate earnings do not, on their own, prove that local hiring or provincial tax revenues will rise proportionately.
