Adds background, CEO comment, growth capital, and outlook in paragraphs 2, 3, 6 and 8
Dec 3 (Reuters) - Enbridge ENB.TO on Wednesday forecast higher core profit for 2026, as the Canadian pipeline operator expects to benefit from strong demand and new projects entering service.
The company is pushing ahead with expanding its pipelines as U.S. power demand is expected to hit record highs this year and next, fueled by technology firms pouring billions to build data centers to tap the artificial intelligence boom.
"We have approximately C$8 billion of new projects entering service in 2026 across our franchises...," CEO Gregory Ebel said in a statement.
The Calgary-based company completed the acquisition of Dominion Energy D.N utilities — East Ohio Gas, Questar Gas and Public Service Co of North Carolina — last year in a $14 billion deal, including debt.
Enbridge projected an adjusted core profit of C$20.2 billion ($14.49 billion) to C$20.8 billion, compared with expectations of between C$19.4 billion and C$20 billion for this year.
The company expects to deploy about C$10 billion in growth capital next year, up from roughly C$7 billion in 2025.
Enbridge also raised its quarterly dividend by 3% to 97 Canadian cents a share, effective March 1.
Post 2026, the company estimates adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, earnings per share and discounted cash flow per share to grow by about 5% annually.
($1 = 1.3942 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by Pranav Mathur and Yagnoseni Das in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Sriraj Kalluvila)
((Pranav.Mathur@thomsonreuters.com;))
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