Dive Brief:
- Sempra Energy reported 2014 earnings of $1.16 billion, or $4.63 per diluted share, compared with $1 billion in 2013.
- The company said its results reflect $21 million in charges related to the early closure of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), including $12 million in the fourth quarter.
- Fourth quarter earnings at the company's San Diego Gas & Electric subsidiary were $128 million, and $76 million at Southern California Gas.
Dive Insight:
Shutting down SONGS was a drag on Sempra's earnings, but the company got a boost from its international operations, U-T San Diego noted.
"We achieved excellent results in 2014," said Debra Reed, chairman and CEO of Sempra Energy. "We delivered strong, year-over-year earnings growth and we advanced the Cameron LNG liquefaction-export facility and our other major infrastructure projects that are central to our five-year growth plan."
Reed said the company had also made progress toward achieving compound annual growth in earnings per share "toward the upper end of our stated growth-rate range of 9% to 11% from 2014 through 2019."
Excluding the SONGS charges in 2014 and 2013 and retroactive earnings from a rate case in 2013, Sempra Energy's adjusted earnings in 2014 were $1.18 billion, or $4.71 per diluted share, up from adjusted earnings of $1.04 billion, or $4.18 per diluted share, in 2013.
SDG&E's fourth-quarter earnings increased to $128 million in 2014 from $119 million in 2013, due primarily to higher margin from electric transmission and state regulatory base operations, and lower legal costs, offset by the $12 million charge related to the SONGS closure.
SoCalGas' earnings were $76 million, compared with $98 million in the fourth quarter 2013, due primarily to lower income-tax expense in 2013.
