DTE Energy's energy trading unit is losing money, and it missed the quarterly profit estimate.

DTE Energy, a utility in the Midwest of the United States, missed Wall Street's expectations for first-quarter profits on Thursday. This was due to a swing from a profit to a loss at its energy trading business.

DTE has announced that it will invest $6 billion over the next year in order to improve its infrastructure, including its electric and natural gas utilities.

U.S. electric utilities expect to spend $1.4 trillion ?on power lines and other infrastructure-related costs over the next five years, driven ?by rising electricity demand, an aging grid and extreme weather such as wildfires and ?storms, according to a report by PowerLines, a nonprofit ?that advocates for utility reform.

The company's energy trading segment, consisting of marketing and trading energy, reported a loss in the amount of $25 million compared to its profit from a year ago of $34 millions.

DTE's largest division by net income, the electric segment, reported a profit of $218 millions during the period January-March, compared to $147 million one year earlier.

The quarterly profit of?its Gas unit increased by nearly 2%, to $210 millions.

The company has reaffirmed that it expects to achieve a full-year operating profit in the range $7.59 - $7.73 per share.

According to LSEG data, the Detroit-based utility 'posted an adjusted loss of $1.95 for each share during a quarter that ended on March 31. This compares with the analysts' average expectation of $2.01, which was based on LSEG data.

DTE Energy serves 2.3 millions?electrical customers in Southeast Michigan, and 1.4million natural gas customers throughout the state. (Reporting and editing by Shilpimajumdar and Vijay Kishore in Bengaluru)

(source: Reuters)