Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP said Wednesday its second-quarter profit rose 56 percent due to strong performance from its natural gas pipelines and terminals units.
The company, which transports and stores petroleum products and natural gas, earned $362.2 million, or 65 cents per unit, in the quarter ended June 30, compared $232.7 million, or 36 cents per unit, in the year-ago period.
Excluding gains on asset sales and certain other items, profit rose to $363.3 million, or 65 cents per unit. The number of outstanding units rose to 256.7 million from 235 million year over year.
Revenue jumped to $3.5 billion from $2.37 billion.
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected, on average, earnings of 55 cents per unit on revenue of $2.74 billion. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time charges.
Adjusted to exclude depreciation, depletion and amortization, earnings at the CO2 and natural gas pipelines units rose about 68 percent and 26 percent, respectively.
The company cited its "exceptionally strong quarter" despite lower gasoline demand brought on by high prices and the sluggish economy.
"While no company is 100 percent immune to external conditions, Kinder Morgan continues to demonstrate that our diversified portfolio of stable assets is capable of generating consistently strong cash flow even in very difficult market conditions," Chairman and Chief Executive Richard D. Kinder said in a release.
Kinder Morgan Energy also said it raised its quarterly distribution by 3 cents to 99 cents per unit, payable Aug. 14 to shareholders of record July 31.
Shares surged $2.95, or 5.3 percent, to $58.50 in after-hours trading after closing Wednesday down 41 cents at $55.55.
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