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The owner of Hawaii’s largest utility generated a bigger profit in the second quarter just before its bid to become part of giant Florida power firm NextEra Energy Inc. got rejected by state regulators.
Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. earned $44.6 million in the three months ended June 30, up 26 percent from $35.5 million in net income during the same quarter last year.
Revenue amounted to $566.2 million, down 9 percent from $623.9 million in the same comparable period.
HEI, which announced the financial results Thursday, said its higher profit was largely because it spent less money in connection with the NextEra deal and received reimbursements for investments made in the areas of system reliability and green energy.
“HEI had a solid quarter as we continued to invest in our Hawaii-based businesses,” Connie Lau, company president and CEO, said in a statement.
Regarding the deal for HEI to be acquired by NextEra, which the state Public Utilities Commission rejected July 15, HEI said it had $2.7 million in after-tax expenses during the recent quarter compared with $7.2 million in the year-ago period, representing a $4.5 million swing.
These expenses included costs for merger efforts, spinning off subsidiary American Savings Bank into an independent company and a plan to use liquefied natural gas to produce power — all of which were connected to the NextEra deal.
Under terms of the NextEra purchase agreement, the Florida company had to pay HEI $95 million if NextEra failed to win PUC approval. NextEra has paid the sum, which will be reflected in HEI’s third-quarter finances.
HEI said the payment, of which $90 million is a “break-up” fee and $5 million is for transaction expense reimbursements, will result in a $60 million after-tax gain that will help fund Hawaii clean-energy initiatives.
Another major driver of HEI’s higher second-quarter profit was a $4 million after-tax gain primarily from recouping costs for investing in utility system upkeep and green energy. As a regulated utility, HEI regularly makes investments in equipment and other systems serving its customers and then later recoups its costs through customer billing.
Lau said HEI is spending about $145 million on green-energy efforts this year. Projects include a solar farm in Waianae that is expected to begin operating by the end of the year and become the largest such system in Hawaii.
“We remain focused on reducing the cost of electricity to our customers, and maintaining efficiency and reliability while seeking to achieve the state’s goal of 100 percent renewable energy by 2045,” Lau said in a conference call with stock analysts. “We will continue to provide long-term value for our customers, community, employees and shareholders.”
HEI serves about 95 percent of Hawaii’s population through electrical utilities on Oahu, Maui, Molokai and Hawaii island. These utilities contributed $36.4 million in net income for HEI during the second quarter, up from $33.3 million a year earlier.
American Savings produced $13.3 million in net income in the second quarter compared with $12.9 million a year earlier.
Other related companies, which include the HEI holding company that handled the NextEra deal, produced a $5 million net loss in the second quarter compared with a $10.7 million net loss a year earlier.
Overall, HEI’s net income equated to 41 cents per share of stock in the second quarter, up from 33 cents a year earlier. The company paid a dividend of 31 cents per share, unchanged from a year earlier. The company also paid $473,000 in preferred stock dividends of subsidiaries in the quarter and the year-earlier period.
Shares of HEI stock closed Thursday at $30.59 before the company reported its earnings. Shares over the past 52 weeks have closed between a high of $34.48 on June 29 and a low of $27.23 on Sept. 4.
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