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By Dharna Bafna
Aug 4 (Reuters) – Power producer NRG Energy (NRG.N) missed Wall Street estimates for second-quarter profit on Tuesday, weighed down by higher interest expense and costs related to assets acquired from LS Power, sending its shares down 10% in morning trading.
Higher-for-longer interest rates have put pressure on power companies by raising costs to construct, maintain and upgrade infrastructure such as electrical grids.
- NRG’s interest expense rose to $310 million in the quarter from $148 million a year earlier.
- The company posted adjusted profit of $1.49 per share for the three months ended June 30, missing analysts’ average estimate of $1.70 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.
- Melius Research analyst James West said the quarterly miss is unlikely to affect the stock’s longer-term potential, citing opportunities for additional long-term contracts and cash flow growth.
- The company’s Texas unit posted an adjusted core profit of $381 million, down 25.6% from year earlier, due to higher supply costs and mild winter weather.
- East segment adjusted EBITDA jumped nearly five-fold to $469 million, boosted by new generation assets, CPower and higher capacity prices, partly offset by Winter Storm Fern-related supply costs.
- Total adjusted EBITDA came in at $1.21 billion, compared with $909 million a year ago.
- NRG said it has agreed on key commercial terms with a global cloud and AI hyperscaler to build a 1.2-GW gas-fired power plant in Texas.
- The project could expand to 2.4 GW and that it has multiple customers seeking gas turbines for other AI-driven projects, company says.
Reporting by Dharna Bafna in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid
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