TC Energy Corp. (TRP) has reported a fourth-quarter loss of $1.45 billion due to the rising cost of its Coastal GasLink pipeline project.
TC Energy said that its earnings for Q4 amounted to $1.11 per share, up from $1.05 per share a year earlier.
Analysts had, on average, expected a profit of $1.10 per share, according to Refinitiv data.
The Calgary-based company blamed the quarterly loss largely on a one-time pre-tax charge of $3 billion related to the increased cost of its Coastal GasLink project.
The Coastal GasLink project is a 670 km pipeline that runs from northern British Columbia to an LNG Canada processing and export facility in Kitimat, B.C.
TC Energy’s Q4 results were also impacted by an oil spill from its Keystone pipeline in Kansas. The company has estimated the cost of clean-up and remediation from the December oil spill at $480 million U.S.
TC Energy executives said they expect to know this summer whether the company will complete the Coastal GasLink pipeline by its end-of-year target date.
The estimated cost of the Coastal GasLink pipeline has risen to $14.5 billion from an earlier estimate of $11.2 billion.
Construction of the pipeline is about 85% complete. However, TC Energy has warned that if construction extends into 2024, it could add an additional $1.2 billion to the cost.
Despite the Q4 loss, TC Energy announced that it is raising its quarterly dividend by 3% to $0.93 per share from $0.90 a share previously.
TC Energy’s stock has declined 16% over the past year to $56.42 per share.