Drooping sales push Spectra Energy 4Q profit down

Natural gas transport and storage company Spectra Energy Corp. said Thursday its fourth-quarter profit dropped 41 percent as sales fell across its business units.

For the three-month period ended Dec. 31, the company posted net income of $171 million, or 28 cents per share, compared with $291 million, or 46 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

Excluding an impairment charge, the company posted net income of $197 million, or 32 cents per share.

Revenue fell 9 percent to $1.26 billion from $1.39 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected, on average, earnings of 30 cents per share on revenue of $1.33 billion. Analysts typically exclude one-time items.

Sales in the company's U.S. transmission, distribution, western Canada transmission and processing, and field services units all fell during the period.

For the year, the company earned $1.13 billion, or $1.81 per share, on revenue of $5.07 billion.

"We delivered excellent financial results, executed extremely well on the completion of a record $1.8 billion in new projects and increased our dividend 14 percent during the year," Chief Executive Greg Ebel said in a statement. "We also took some key, proactive steps to ensure we are well positioned to manage current economic challenges."

Meanwhile, the company said it expects to spend $500 million in 2009 on capital expansion projects, and sees an annual dividend of $1.

Shares rose 35 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $15.02 in midday trading. The stock has traded between $13.36 and $29.18 in the past 52 weeks.