Sempra lifts capital spending plan, beats quarterly profit estimates

Sempra, a company that provides energy infrastructure, raised its capital plan for the next five years by 16%. It also beat Wall Street's estimates of?fourth quarter adjusted profit. This was due to higher demand for power and investments made in grid modernization.

In premarket trading, shares of a?company increased by?1.8%.

U.S. utilities have increased their capital expenditure budgets in order to keep up with the increase in demand for power.

The company's?projected?capital expenditure from 2026- 2030 will be $65 billion. This is compared to the previous?plan?of $56 billion for 2025-2029. Its focus was on regulated utility investment in Texas and California.

The plan also targets a 2% to 4% increase in dividends per year over the course of the plan.

Sempra Texas's utility Oncor, which continues to expand its electrical grid in order to meet the rising demand for power from industrial customers and data centres, has had a strong quarter.

Sempra has also identified additional capital expenditures of $9 billion through 2030, with the majority of these destined to support Oncor’s grid expansion.

As part of its efforts to'simplify business and strengthen balance sheet,' the company plans to sell a 45% stake of Sempra Infrastructure Partners for $10 billion to KKR affiliates by the second quarter or third quarter.

Sempra Texas utilities' earnings rose by 48.9%, to $201 millions in the quarter reported.

Sempra's operating and maintenance expenses for the quarter fell 7.8%, to $1.35bn, compared with last year.

According to data compiled and analyzed by LSEG, the San Diego-based company?reported an adjusted profit per share of $1.28 for the three months ended December 31. This compares with analysts' average estimates of $1.17. (Reporting from Bengaluru by Pooja menon; editing by Sahal Muhammad)

(source: Reuters)