TRANSCANADA'S NET INCOME $1.1 BLN

TRANSCANADA - TransCanada Reports Record Financial Results for 2018

TransCanada Corporation (TSX, NYSE: TRP) (TransCanada or the Company)  announced net income attributable to common shares for fourth quarter 2018 of $1.1 billion or $1.19 per share compared to net income of $0.9 billion or $0.98 per share for the same period in 2017. For the year ended December 31, 2018, net income attributable to common shares was $3.5 billion or $3.92 per share compared to net income of $3.0 billion or $3.44 per share in 2017. Comparable earnings for fourth quarter 2018 were $946 million or $1.03 per common share compared to $719 million or $0.82 per share for the same period in 2017. For the year ended December 31, 2018, comparable earnings were $3.5 billion or $3.86 per common share compared to $2.7 billion or $3.09 per share in 2017. TransCanada's Board of Directors also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per common share for the quarter ending March 31, 2019, equivalent to $3.00 per common share on an annualized basis, an increase of 8.7 per cent. This is the nineteenth consecutive year the Board of Directors has raised the dividend.

"We are very pleased with the performance of our diversified portfolio of high-quality, long-life energy infrastructure assets which produced record financial results again in 2018,” said Russ Girling, TransCanada’s president and chief executive officer. “Comparable earnings per share increased twenty-five per cent compared to 2017 while comparable funds generated from operations of $6.5 billion were sixteen per cent higher than last year. The increases reflect the strong performance of our legacy assets, contributions from approximately $4 billion of growth projects that were placed into service and the positive impact of U.S. Tax Reform."

"With our existing asset base expected to benefit from supportive market fundamentals and $36 billion of secured growth projects currently underway, approximately $9 billion of which is commissioning or nearing completion, earnings and cash flow are forecast to continue to rise. This is expected to support annual dividend growth of eight to ten per cent through 2021,” added Girling. “We have invested $13 billion in these projects to date and are well positioned to fund the remainder of our secured growth program through significant and growing internally generated cash flow, access to capital markets and further portfolio management activities. As outlined in the third quarter, we view the issuance of common shares under our At-The-Market equity program as being complete and will continue to evaluate the use of our Dividend Reinvestment Program on a quarterly basis. We also continue to progress various portfolio management activities, including the recently announced sale of our Coolidge generating station which is expected to close by mid-year. This will allow us to prudently fund our capital program in a manner that is consistent with achieving targeted leverage metrics in 2019."

"Looking ahead, we will also continue to carefully advance more than $20 billion of projects under development including Keystone XL and the Bruce Power life extension program. Success in advancing these and other growth initiatives that are expected to emanate from TransCanada's five operating businesses across North America could extend our growth outlook well into the next decade," concluded Girling.

Highlights

(All financial figures are unaudited and in Canadian dollars unless noted otherwise)

• Fourth quarter 2018 financial results
  • Net income attributable to common shares of $1.1 billion or $1.19 per common share
  • Comparable earnings of $946 million or $1.03 per common share
  • Comparable earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $2.5 billion
  • Net cash provided by operations of $2.0 billion
  • Comparable funds generated from operations of $1.9 billion
  • Comparable distributable cash flow of $1.7 billion or $1.89 per common share
• For the year ended December 31, 2018
  • Net income attributable to common shares of $3.5 billion or $3.92 per common share
  • Comparable earnings of $3.5 billion or $3.86 per common share
  • Comparable earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $8.6 billion
  • Net cash provided by operations of $6.6 billion
  • Comparable funds generated from operations of $6.5 billion
  • Comparable distributable cash flow of $5.9 billion or $6.52 per common share
• Fourth quarter highlights
  • TransCanada's Board approved an 8.7 per cent increase in the quarterly common share dividend to $0.75 per common share for the quarter ending March 31, 2019
  • Announced that we will proceed with construction of the $6.2 billion Coastal GasLink pipeline project
  • Announced $1.5 billion NGTL 2022 Expansion Program
  • Secured transportation contracts for the North Bay Junction Long Term Fixed Price service on the Canadian Mainline
  • Completed the sale of our interests in the Cartier Wind power facilities for approximately $630 million
  • Entered into an agreement to sell our Coolidge generating station for approximately US$465 million with closing expected to occur in mid-2019
  • Reimbursed for $470 million of Coastal GasLink pre-Final Investment Decision costs
  • In January 2019, announced planned name change to TC Energy subject to shareholder and regulatory approval

Net income attributable to common shares increased by $231 million or $0.21 per share to $1.1 billion or $1.19 per share for the three months ended December 31, 2018 compared to the same period last year primarily due to changes in net income described below, as well as the dilutive effect of common shares issued in 2017 and 2018 under our DRP and Corporate ATM program. Fourth quarter 2018 results included a $143 million after-tax gain related to the sale of our interests in the Cartier Wind power facilities; a $115 million deferred income tax recovery from an MLP regulatory liability write-off resulting from the 2018 FERC Actions; a $52 million recovery of deferred income taxes as a result of finalizing the impact of U.S. Tax Reform; a $27 million income tax recovery related to the sale of our U.S. Northeast power generation assets; and $25 million of income after tax and after non-controlling interests recognized on the Bison contract terminations. These items were partially offset by a $140 million impairment charge on Bison after tax and after non-controlling interests; a $15 million goodwill impairment charge on Tuscarora after tax and after non-controlling interests; and an after-tax net loss of $7 million related to our U.S. Northeast power marketing contracts. All of these specific items, as well as unrealized gains and losses from changes in risk management activities, are excluded from comparable earnings.

Net income attributable to common shares for the year ended December 31, 2018 was $3.5 billion or $3.92 per share compared to $3.0 billion or $3.44 per share in 2017 due to the changes in net income described below, as well as the dilutive effect of common shares issued in 2017 and 2018 under our DRP and Corporate ATM program. Results in 2018 include the items highlighted for fourth quarter 2018 with a full year after-tax net loss related to our U.S. Northeast power marketing contracts of $4 million. All of these specific items, as well as unrealized gains and losses from changes in risk management activities, are excluded from comparable earnings.

Comparable EBITDA for fourth quarter 2018 increased by $550 million to $2.5 billion compared to the same period in 2017 primarily due to the net effect of the following:

• higher contribution from Canadian Natural Gas Pipelines primarily due to the recovery of increased depreciation approved in both the Mainline NEB 2018 Decision and the NGTL 2018-2019 Settlement, as well as higher flow-through taxes and incentive earnings
• higher contribution from U.S. Natural Gas Pipelines mainly due to increased earnings from Columbia Gas and Columbia Gulf growth projects placed in service, additional contract sales on ANR and Great Lakes, and amortization of net regulatory liabilities recognized as a result of U.S. Tax Reform
• higher contribution from Liquids Pipelines primarily due to higher volumes on the Keystone Pipeline System, increased earnings from liquids marketing activities and earnings from intra-Alberta pipelines placed in service in the second half of 2017
• higher revenues from Mexico Natural Gas Pipelines as a result of changes in timing of revenue recognition
• lower earnings from Bruce Power primarily due to lower volumes resulting from higher outage days.

Comparable earnings for fourth quarter 2018 were $946 million or $1.03 per common share compared to $719 million or $0.82 per share for the same period in 2017, an increase of $227 million or $0.21 per share which was primarily the net result of the following:

• changes in comparable EBITDA described above
• higher depreciation primarily in Canadian Natural Gas Pipelines due to increased depreciation rates approved in the Mainline NEB 2018 Decision and the NGTL 2018-2019 Settlement (these amounts are fully recovered as reflected in the increase in comparable EBITDA described above, having no net impact on comparable earnings) as well as higher depreciation related to new projects placed in service in 2017 and 2018
• higher interest expense primarily as a result of long-term debt and junior subordinated notes issuances, net of maturities
• lower interest income and other as a result of realized losses in 2018 compared to realized gains in 2017 on derivatives used to manage net exposure to foreign exchange rate fluctuations on U.S. dollar-denominated income.

Comparable EBITDA in 2018 increased by $1.2 billion to $8.6 billion compared to 2017 primarily due to the net effect of the following:

• higher contribution from U.S. Natural Gas Pipelines mainly due to increased earnings from Columbia Gas and Columbia Gulf growth projects placed in service, additional contract sales on ANR and Great Lakes, and amortization of net regulatory liabilities recognized as a result of U.S. Tax Reform
• higher contribution from Liquids Pipelines primarily due to higher volumes on the Keystone Pipeline System, increased earnings from liquids marketing activities and earnings from intra-Alberta pipelines placed in service in the second half of 2017
• higher contribution from Canadian Natural Gas Pipelines primarily due to the recovery of increased depreciation as a result of higher rates approved in both the Mainline NEB 2018 Decision and the NGTL 2018-2019 Settlement, as well as higher overall pre-tax rate base earnings, partially offset by lower incentive earnings and flow-through income taxes
• lower earnings from U.S. Power mainly due to the sales of our U.S. Northeast power generation assets in second quarter 2017
• lower earnings from Bruce Power primarily due to lower volumes resulting from higher outage days and lower results from contracting activities.

Comparable earnings in 2018 of $3.5 billion or $3.86 per common share were $790 million or $0.77 per share higher than in 2017. The 2018 increase was primarily the net result of the following:

• changes in comparable EBITDA described above
• higher depreciation primarily in Canadian Natural Gas Pipelines due to increased depreciation rates approved in the Mainline NEB 2018 Decision and the NGTL 2018-2019 Settlement (these amounts are fully recovered as reflected in the increase in comparable EBITDA described above, having no net impact on comparable earnings) as well as higher depreciation related to new projects placed in service in 2017 and 2018
• higher interest expense primarily as a result of additional long-term debt issuances in 2018 and the full year impact of long-term debt and junior subordinated notes issuances in 2017, net of maturities, as well as lower capitalized interest, partially offset by the repayment of the Columbia acquisition bridge facilities in June 2017
• lower income tax expense primarily due to reduced income tax rates resulting from U.S. Tax Reform and lower flow-through income taxes in Canadian rate-regulated pipelines.

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Earlier: 

2018, November, 2, 11:25:00 TRANSCANADA'S NET INCOME $928 MLN TRANSCANADA - TransCanada Corporation (TSX, NYSE: TRP) (TransCanada or the Company) announced net income attributable to common shares for third quarter 2018 of $928 million or $1.02 per share compared to net income of $612 million or $0.70 per share for the same period in 2017.

2018, August, 3, 09:10:00 TRANSCANADA NET INCOME $785 MLN TRANSCANADA - TransCanada Corporation (TSX, NYSE: TRP) (TransCanada or the Company) today announced net income attributable to common shares for second quarter 2018 of $785 million or $0.88 per share compared to net income of $881 million or $1.01 per share for the same period in 2017.

2018, April, 30, 09:35:00 TRANSCANADA'S NET INCOME $734 MLN TRANSCANADA - TransCanada Corporation (TSX, NYSE: TRP) (TransCanada or the Company) today announced net income attributable to common shares for second quarter 2017 of $881 million or $1.01 per share compared to net income of $365 million or $0.52 per share for the same period in 2016. Comparable earnings for second quarter 2017 were $659 million or $0.76 per share compared to $366 million or $0.52 per share for the same period in 2016. TransCanada's Board of Directors also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.625 per common share for the quarter ending September 30, 2017, equivalent to $2.50 per common share on an annualized basis.

2018, February, 16, 23:10:00 TRANSCANADA NET INCOME $3.0 BLN TRANSCANADA - TransCanada Corporation (TSX:TRP) (NYSE:TRP) (TransCanada or the Company) announced net income attributable to common shares for fourth quarter 2017 of $861 million or $0.98 per share compared to a net loss of $358 million or $0.43 per share for the same period in 2016. For the year ended December 31, 2017, net income attributable to common shares was $3.0 billion or $3.44 per share compared to net income of $124 million or $0.16 per share in 2016.

2017, November, 22, 11:15:00 TRANSCANADA'S CONSTRUCTION $8 BLN TransCanada Corporation (TSX:TRP) (NYSE:TRP) (TransCanada) confirmed that the Nebraska Public Service Commission (PSC) has approved an alternative route for the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline project through the state. TransCanada is evaluating the PSC's decision.

2017, November, 13, 10:10:00 TRANSCANADA NET INCOME $2.136 BLN TransCanada Corporation (TSX, NYSE: TRP) (TransCanada or the Company) announced net income attributable to common shares for third quarter 2017 of $612 million or $0.70 per share compared to a net loss of $135 million or $0.17 per share for the same period in 2016. Comparable earnings for third quarter 2017 were $614 million or $0.70 per share compared to $622 million or $0.78 per share for the same period in 2016. TransCanada's Board of Directors also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.625 per common share for the quarter ending December 31, 2017, equivalent to $2.50 per common share on an annualized basis.

2017, October, 6, 12:30:00 TRANSCANADA'S CAPITAL PROGRAM: $24 BLN We will continue to focus on our $24 billion near-term capital program which is expected to generate growth in earnings and cash flow to support an expected annual dividend growth rate at the upper end of an eight to 10 per cent range through 2020.