CMS Energy posts higher first-quarter profit helped by robust demand, lower costs (updated)

CMS Energy

25/04/2024 18:28

(Updates to add details from company call, analyst comment in
paragraph 5 through 8)
    By Srivastava  Vallari
       April 25 (Reuters) - CMS Energy  CMS.N  reported a rise
in first-quarter profit on Thursday, as the electric and gas
utility benefitted from higher sales and improved weather which
lowered storm-related restoration costs.
    Operating expenses for the first quarter, which include
restoration costs, fell to $1.76 billion from $1.97 billion in
the year-ago quarter.
    U.S. natural gas futures  NGc1  fell about 30% sequentially
in the January-March quarter, which helped utilities such as CMS
Energy reduce their costs.  NGA/ 
    Peers such as Xcel Energy  XEL.O  and PG&E Corp  PCG.N  also
benefitted from lower operating expenses and beat analysts'
expectations for first-quarter profit earlier today.
    CMS Energy, during its post-earnings call, said it had
secured a contract with a large data center in Michigan earlier
this year. Utilities such as Southern Co  SO.N , NextEra  NEE.N 
and American Electric Power  AEP.O  have highlighted the ongoing
AI and data center boom as a tailwind for earnings.
    "This is nice load growth. And I'm even more excited about
the manufacturing load growth we are seeing in Michigan, which
is a differentiator for us," said CEO Garrick Rochow.
     CMS Energy, which provides services to about 6.8 million
customers across Michigan, also reaffirmed its full-year
adjusted profit forecast of $3.29 to $3.35 per share, compared
with analysts' estimates of $3.33 per share, per LSEG data.
    "Forecast is conservative as always on this front, but we
see the trends as encouraging," Scotiabank analyst Andrew Weisel
said in a note.
    The Jackson, Michigan-based firm said net income
attributable to shareholders rose to $285 million, or 96 cents
per share, in the quarter ended March 31, from $202 million, or
69 cents per share, a year ago.

 (Reporting by Vallari Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay
Kishore and Ravi Prakash Kumar)
 ((Srivastava.Vallari@thomsonreuters.com;))