HEI tops analysts’ estimates but net income falls

Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. topped analysts’ estimates in the fourth quarter despite lower net income and said a record 27 percent of electricity on its utility’s grid was from renewable sources last year.

The parent of the state’s dominant utility and American Savings Bank provided the renewable energy update today in conjunction with its fourth quarter and full year financial report that was affected by one-time items tied to federal tax reform and the company’s failed 2016 sale to NextEra Energy Inc.

HEI Chief Executive Connie Lau said Hawaiian Electric Co. continues to moves toward the state’s 100 percent renewable energy goal by 2045.

“To help meet our electric company’s mission to provide clean, reliable and resilient electric energy safely to our customers and to stay ahead of the needs of Hawaii’s economic and real property development, we invested over $400 million (more than three times the utility’s earnings) to modernize and strengthen the electric systems on Oahu, Maui, Hawaii island, Molokai and Lanai,” she said.

HEI said fourth-quarter earnings fell 27.5 percent to $32.4 million, or 30 cents a share, from $44.6 million, or 41 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter. Last quarter’s results included a $14.2 million expense tied to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed into law in December and $1,000 cash bonuses paid to all American Savings employees except the senior management team. Core earnings that exclude the one-time items were 43 cents a share — 2 cents above analysts’ estimates. Revenue rose 6.7 percent to $658.6 million from $617.4 million.

For the year, HEI’s earnings fell 33.4 percent to $165.3 million from $248.3 million in 2016 when HEI received $58.2 million after taxes from NextEra as part of a breakup fee and the related cancellation of a liquefied natural gas contract. Excluding the impact of those items, HEI’s core net income was $179.5 million in 2017 compared to $190.1 million in 2016. Revenue rose 7.8 percent to $2.26 billion from $2.09 billion.

The utility’s earnings for 2017 fell to $120 million from $142.3 million in 2016 while American Savings’ net income rose to $67 million from $57.3 million in the previous year.