San Diego-based Sempra Energy on Monday reported a loss of $561 million in the second quarter because of almost $1 billion in costs related to its planned sale of natural gas storage and wind energy assets.
The utility holding company’s loss equaled $2.11 per share, and compared with earnings of $259 million, or $1.03 per share, in the same quarter last year.
The one-time costs in the second quarter included $755 million related to the planed sale of natural gas storage assets, and $145 million in costs related to the planned sale of wind investments.
Otherwise, Sempra would have earned $361 million, or $1.35 per diluted share, during the quarter, the company said.
Sempra shares were trading around $115 on Wall Street Monday morning, down about 1 percent.
On June 28, following the company’s annual strategic review, the company announced plans to sell several energy infrastructure assets, including its entire portfolio of U.S. wind and solar assets and investments, along with certain U.S. midstream storage assets.
“In the second quarter, we achieved solid operating results and, with our recent successful equity offerings, we have strengthened our balance sheets,” said Jeffrey W. Martin, Sempra CEO. We have also taken significant steps to begin optimizing our portfolio of assets and expand our liquefied natural gas business.
The sale of the company’s entire wind and solar portfolio is expected to fund what the company considers to be growth opportunities.
On June 26, Port Arthur Liquefied Natural Gas, a Sempra natural gas liquefaction-export project under development in Texas, entered into a preliminary 20-year agreement to sell natural gas to a Polish oil company beginning in 2023, according to the company.
Sempra Energy recently completed equity offerings that are expected to raise $1.82 billion. The funds will be used to complete the acquisition of about 80 percent of Oncor Electric Delivery Co., the largest electric utility in Texas.
For the first six months combined, Sempra reported a loss of $214 million, or $0.82 per share, compared with earnings of $700 million, or $2.77 per share, in the same period last year.
Among its major subsidiaries, SDG&E saw a second quarter net income of $146 million, compared with earnings of $149 million in last year’s second quarter. For the first two quarters combined, net income was $316 million, compared with $304 million last year.
— From Staff and Wire Reports