Feb 27 (Reuters) - U.S. utility Edison International EIX.N missed adjusted profit estimates for the fourth quarter on Thursday, hurt by higher costs and interest rates.

Sustained higher interest rates can weigh on utilities, as they make investing in the construction and maintenance of critical infrastructure, such as electrical grids, more expensive.

The company, however, expects adjusted earnings per share for the current year to be in the range of $5.94 per share to $6.34 per share, higher than analysts' estimates of $5.68 per share.

The new range has an incremental 44 cents from the recently approved TKM settlement of $1.6 billion, Chief Financial Officer Maria Rigatti said in prepared remarks.

The TKM settlement refers to the costs the utility can recover after the Thomas Fire, Koenigstein Fire and Montecito Mudslides from 2017.

While the company did not provide a breakdown of its quarterly expenses, it saw a nearly 7% rise in operating expenses from 2023, and a nearly 16% increase in interest expenses in 2024.

The company also said that it was still undertaking a review of the fires in California, but as of February 27 had not determined whether its equipment was associated with the ignition of the Eaton fire.

Its subsidiary, Southern California Edison, is facing multiple lawsuits alleging that its equipment was involved in the Eaton blaze, one of the major wildfires that swept across Los Angeles last month, and the smaller Hurst fire.

The Eaton fire scorched about 14,000 acres, destroyed more than 9,400 structures and killed 17 people. Jefferies analyst Paul Zimbardo estimates the damage it caused would cost about $22 billion before any settlement discounts.

The lawsuits allege that Edison was negligent for failing to properly maintain its transmission and distribution lines, and also seek damages for lost wages and costs to rebuild, among other things.

The Rosemead, California-based company said that excluding adjustments, it reported a profit of $1.05 per share, lower than the estimates of $1.09 projected by analysts polled by LSEG.

(Reporting by Seher Dareen and Vallari Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi)

((Srivastava.Vallari@thomsonreuters.com;))