By Tom Kleckner

CenterPoint Energy interim CEO John Somerhalder said he was “honored” to step in as a placeholder when he introduced himself to financial analysts during the company’s quarterly earnings call Thursday.

“Alongside our leadership team, I am excited to move this company to deliver strong results and drive shareholder value,” he said during the call.

Somerhalder, a member of CenterPoint’s board, was named to temporarily replace Scott Prochaska, who unexpectedly stepped down Feb. 19. (See Prochazka Steps down as CenterPoint CEO.)

CFO Xia Liu handled the majority of the analysts’ questions, but Somerhalder was quick to respond when an analyst asked when a permanent CEO would be named.

“I am interim president and CEO. I have no timeline or no time limit,” he said. “I am here; very proud to be here; very focused on executing on the strategy for as long as required until the right transition to a permanent CEO at the right time is made.”

Somerhalder said CenterPoint earned $1.25 billion in cash from the recent sail of its natural gas retail business and two natural gas pipeline contractors. The proceeds will be used to pay down debt as the Houston-based company focuses on its core utility business.

“Our board is very focused on exactly what we’re focused on,” Somerhalder said. “They see the value of our utilities. They see the value of investment in rate base growing those earnings. … And so that strategy is what they support and what they believe is appropriate moving forward.”

CenterPoint reported fourth-quarter earnings of $231 million ($0.45/share), exceeding its 2018 fourth-quarter performance of $160 million ($0.36/share) and expectations of analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research, which had projected the same earnings per share as last year.

For the year, the company reported a profit of $895 million ($1.79/share), up from 2018’s earnings of $698 million ($1.60/share).

CenterPoint’s stock price jumped to $25.27 shortly after the earnings announcement. It closed down for the week and the year at $23.02.