TransCanada (NYSE: TRP) reported Q3 EPS of $1.00, $0.33 better than the analyst estimate of $0.67. Revenue for the quarter came in at $3.16 billion versus the consensus estimate of $2.38 billion.

Third quarter 2018 financial results

• Net income attributable to common shares of $928 million or $1.02 per common share
  • Comparable earnings of $902 million or $1.00 per common share
  • Comparable earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $2.1 billion
  • Net cash provided by operations of $1.3 billion
  • Comparable funds generated from operations of $1.6 billion
  • Comparable distributable cash flow of $1.4 billion or $1.56 per common share reflecting only non-recoverable maintenance capital expenditures
• Declared a quarterly dividend of $0.69 per common share for the quarter ending December 31, 2018
• Announced that we will proceed with construction of the $6.2 billion Coastal GasLink pipeline project
• Announced $1.5 billion NGTL 2022 Expansion Program
• Bruce Power submitted a final estimate for the Unit 6 Major Component Replacement (MCR) program to the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) in September 2018; we expect to invest approximately $2.2 billion in this and the ongoing Asset Management program through 2023
• Issued $1.0 billion of 10- and 30-year fixed-rate medium-term notes in July 2018
• Raised US$1.4 billion of 10- and 30-year fixed-rate senior notes in October 2018
• Completed the sale of our interests in Cartier Wind for approximately $630 million in October 2018
• Expect to be reimbursed for $399 million of Coastal GasLink pre-development costs in fourth quarter 2018.

"During the third quarter of 2018, our diversified portfolio of critical energy infrastructure assets continued to perform extremely well," said Russ Girling, TransCanada's president and chief executive officer. "Comparable earnings of $1.00 per share increased 43 per cent compared to the same period last year reflecting the strong performance of our legacy assets, contributions from approximately $7 billion of growth projects that entered service over the last twelve months and the positive impact of U.S. Tax Reform. For the nine months ended September 30, 2018, comparable earnings were $2.82 per share, an increase of 24 per cent over the same period last year despite the sale of our U.S. Northeast power generation and Ontario solar assets in 2017 and necessary financing activities that have us on track to return to long-term targeted credit metrics post the Columbia acquisition."

"With our existing asset portfolio benefiting from strong underlying market fundamentals and approximately $36 billion of secured growth projects underway including Coastal GasLink, NGTL's 2022 expansion program and Bruce Power's Unit 6 refurbishment, 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. "With approximately $10 billion of new projects expected to enter service by early 2019, we are well positioned to fund the remainder of our secured growth program through internally generated cash flow, access to capital markets and further portfolio management activities. Through the end of October, we placed approximately $6.1 billion of long-term debt on compelling terms and raised approximately $2.0 billion of common equity through our dividend reinvestment plan and at-the-market program. We also completed the sale of our interests in the Cartier Wind power facilities for proceeds of approximately $630 million and expect to be reimbursed for approximately $400 million of Coastal GasLink pre-development costs. Collectively these initiatives have raised $9.1 billion which, when combined with our growing internally generated cash flow, means our 2018 financing requirements are fully funded. We view ATM issuance as being complete at this time while our dividend reinvestment plan will operate for some portion of 2019. Going forward, we will continue to evaluate share count growth against further portfolio management activities."

"Looking ahead, we continue to methodically advance more than $20 billion of projects under development including Keystone XL and the Bruce Power life extension agreement. Success in advancing these and/or other growth initiatives associated with our vast, well-positioned North American footprint could extend our growth outlook well into the next decade," concluded Girling.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on TransCanada (TRP) click here.