By Amanda Durish Cook
Ameren last week reported fourth-quarter earnings of $29 million ($0.12/share), down from $48 million ($0.20/share) in the same period of 2014. Ameren’s 2015 net income totaled $630 million ($2.59/share) compared with 2014’s $586 million ($2.40/share).
Operating revenues for the fourth quarter came to about $1.3 billion, compared with almost $1.4 billion in the same period a year earlier. For the full year, operating revenues were up about $45 million to $6 billion.
The St. Louis-based utility said earnings fell in the quarter because of mild winter temperatures, which lowered retail electric and natural gas sales. The earnings drop was partially offset by the company’s large investments in electric transmission and delivery, Ameren said. Earnings were also helped by the 18-month staggering of nuclear refueling and maintenance outages at the Callaway Energy Center, which kept the center running through 2015, the company said.
“We delivered strong earnings growth in 2015,” Ameren CEO Warner Baxter said in a statement. “Despite some challenges, including very mild fourth-quarter weather, we were able to achieve this growth through the continued execution of our strategy, which includes allocating capital to jurisdictions with modern, constructive regulatory frameworks and managing costs in a disciplined manner.”
In 2016, Baxter said, the company would work with key stakeholders to “modernize Missouri’s regulatory framework to better support investment in that state’s aging energy infrastructure for the long-term benefit of our customers and the state of Missouri.”
Ameren offered a less sunny outlook for 2016 diluted earnings per share, projecting between $2.40 and $2.60, and the company cautioned that decreased sales to Noranda Aluminum, Ameren Missouri’s largest customer, could cut shares by 13 cents this year. Ameren is currently working with lawmakers to save the Southeast Missouri smelter from closure while it seeks near-automatic rate increases for itself. Looking beyond the year, however, Ameren expects diluted earnings per share to grow 5 to 8% annually to 2020. Earlier in February, Ameren’s board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of about $0.43/share.
