Sempra exceeds profit expectations on US utility growth

Sempra, a company that provides energy infrastructure in the United States, beat analyst's expectations for its second-quarter profits on Thursday. The growth of its U.S. utilities and cost reductions helped.

U.S. utilities continue to grow, fueled by a growing electricity demand from sectors like data centers and energy-intensive industries. Grid reliability is also a major concern.

Sempra has said that it will continue to focus on moving capital into assets with higher returns, such as utility-centric assets.

Oncor, a unit of the company in Texas, reported a 40% increase in interconnection requests. Nearly 20,000 new premises were added during the third quarter. The division filed for an extensive base rate review in order to recover storm-related expenses and support increased capital spending.

According to data compiled and analyzed by LSEG, the San Diego-based firm posted adjusted earnings per share of 89 cents during the quarter that ended on June 30. This compares with an analyst's estimate of 85 cents.

Operation and maintenance costs fell by 7% in the third quarter to $1.24billion.

Sempra said that it had made progress in two planned asset sales - a stake Sempra Infrastructure, and its Mexican Gas Distribution Unit Ecogas - with both transactions due to be completed by mid-2026.

California's transmission plan awarded the company's utilities $600 million for new grid projects. They also invested over $1.2 billion on upgrades in the third quarter.

Sempra's shares rose 1.5% at the opening of trading. Reporting by Arunima and Katha in Bengaluru, editing by Shilpa Majumdar

(source: Reuters)