By Rob Curran
Xcel Energy posted a slight increase in third-quarter earnings, backed its 2024 earnings projection and launched a five-year, $45 billion capital-expenditure plan.
The Minneapolis power producer logged earnings of $682 million, or $1.21 a share, up from $656 million, or $1.19 a share, a year earlier. Excluding certain one-off items related to litigation and other factors, Xcel posted adjusted earnings of $1.25 a share, just shy of the average Wall Street estimate of $1.26, as per FactSet.
Third-quarter revenue ticked down 0.5% to $3.64 billion, short of the mean analyst estimate of $3.93 billion, according to FactSet.
Xcel, which provides service in Minnesota and other Midwestern states such as Wisconsin, reiterated its forecast for 2024 earnings in a range between $3.50 and $3.60 per share. For 2025, Xcel targeted earnings in a range between $3.75 and $3.85 a share.
Xcel said it will invest $45 billion on sustainability and infrastructure improvements over five years. The investments will make Xcel's "grid cleaner, more efficient and more resilient while safely and affordably meeting the needs of our customers and communities today and for generations to come," Chairman, Chief Executive and President Bob Frenzel, said in a statement. Xcel has previously vowed to retire all its coal plants by 2030.
Xcel said its long-term plan is for earnings-per-share growth in a range between 6% and 8%, and dividend growth in a range between 4% and 6%.
Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 31, 2024 06:37 ET (10:37 GMT)
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