Williams Cos.'s (WMB) second-quarter earnings rose 23% as the
natural-gas transporter and exporter reported strength across its
segments, while Williams Partners LP's (WPZ) profit also rose.
Williams Cos. again raised its earnings guidance for the full
year, this time boosting its May target by five cents to a midpoint
of $1.60 a share. It cited better margins.
Wednesday, Chief Executive Alan Armstrong said Williams Cos. had
strong performances across its businesses. The company lately had
reported better bottom lines thanks to higher commodity process and
stronger margins for olefins, manmade compounds used in products
like plastic bags, textiles and detergents. The previous quarter's
strength in the Midstream Canada & Olefins and Williams
Partners segments was offset by lower results at the exploration
and production division. Williams Partners is the holder of
gathering and gas-transport assets.
Williams Cos. posted a second-quarter profit of $227 million, or
38 cents a share, from $185 million, or 31 cent a share, a year
earlier. Excluding items like charges from restructuring Williams
Partners, earnings from continuing operations rose to 39 cents a
share from 28 cents.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected 39 cents a
share.
The company doesn't provide revenue figures in its press
releases detailing quarterly results.
Separately, Williams Partners, which holds gas-transportation
and gathering assets, posted a profit of $338 million, or 91 cents
a unit, from a prior-year profit of $240 million, or 66 cents a
unit. Analysts most recently expected 87 cents.
Williams Cos. is in the midst of a bidding war over Texas
pipeline company Southern Union Co. (SUG) with Energy Transfer
Equity LP (ETE). In July, Williams raised its bid to about $5.6
billion in cash, topping the $5.1 billion cash-and-stock proposal
from Energy Transfer. The victor of their duel will become the
country's biggest natural-gas pipeline company.
Williams is also in the process of splitting its exploration and
production business from its infrastructure business into two
separate, publicly traded companies.
Shares in Williams Cos. closed Wednesday at $30.06 and units in
Williams Partners closed at $54.02 and weren't active after
hours.
-By Joan E. Solsman, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2291;
joan.solsman@dowjones.com