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NiSource's long-term financing needs addressed through 2011, CEO says
By Jennifer Lanning Drey
Portland, Ore., Feb. 1 - NiSource Inc. addressed its long-term financing needs through 2011 by executing on a comprehensive liquidity plan in 2009, Robert C. Skaggs Jr., chief executive officer of NiSource, said Monday during the company's fourth-quarter and year-end earnings conference call.
NiSource ended 2009 with more than $1 billion of excess liquidity and expects to have more than $500 million of excess liquidity at the end of 2010, Skaggs said.
The company bolstered its liquidity in 2009 by successfully refinancing about $2 billion of debt, as well as recalibrating working capital levels and aggressively managing operating expenses and working capital, he said.
NiSource's short-term borrowings were down more than $1 billion at year-end 2009 from where they stood at the end of 2008.
At the same time, the company's year-over-year cash flows from operating activities increased by more than $1 billion in 2009.
"All of these activities were essential elements of NiSource's commitment to maintaining our investment-grade credit rating in a manner that also preserves shareholder value," Skaggs said.
The company now has stable investment-grade ratings from each of the three ratings agencies and is committed to maintaining and strengthening its ratings over time, he said.
NiSource reported fourth-quarter net operating earnings of $98.9 million, compared with net operating earnings of $126.2 million for the same period in 2008.
In 2010, the company will continue to focus on synchronizing infrastructure investment with appropriate regulatory and commercial activities.
NiSource is a Merrillville, Ind., company engaged in natural gas transmission, storage and distribution as well as electric generation, transmission and distribution.
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