Tuesday, March 8, 2005

CMS Energy profit soars on repatriated funds

Associated Press

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JACKSON -- CMS Energy Corp. on Tuesday posted a fourfold jump in fourth-quarter profit, helped by a repatriation of funds from its foreign units and the resulting lower taxes.

For the quarter, the electricity and natural-gas company's earnings rose to $49 million, or 24 cents a share, from $9 million, or 5 cents a share, a year earlier.

Ongoing earnings for the quarter were 20 cents a share, compared with 22 cents a share a year ago. Ongoing earnings measure operating financial performance, unaffected by discontinued operations, asset sales or other items.

Analysts polled by Thomson First Call had called for fourth-quarter earnings, excluding items, of 18 cents a share.

The results for the latest quarter included a benefit of $21 million, or 12 cents a share, from a planned repatriation of $80 million from the company's foreign units and lower deferred taxes due to tax provisions from the American Jobs Creation Act.

Fourth-quarter revenue rose 14 percent to $1.56 billion from $1.37 billion.

Jackson-based CMS, which has international holdings in plants, pipelines and utilities mostly in Africa, Asia and Latin America, said it expects its foreign units to repatriate additional cash in 2005 resulting in additional tax benefits.

The company added it plans to invest the repatriated cash in its Consumers Energy utility.

For 2005, the company anticipates earnings of 84 cents to 89 cents a share, up from earnings of 64 cents a share in 2004.

Wall Street has been projecting 2005 net income of 81 cents a share.

For all of 2004, net income came to $110 million, or 64 cents a share, compared with a loss of $44 million, or 30 cents a share, a year ago.

Full-year revenue slipped to $5.47 billion from $5.51 billion.

In morning trading, shares of CMS fell 18 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $12.83 on the New York Stock Exchange.

On the Net:
CMS Energy Corp.: http://www.cmsenergy.com/