Enbridge earnings slide

Photo: The Canadian Press

Enbridge Inc. is reporting that special items pushed its fourth quarter net income down to $207 million, a 42 per cent decline from the year-earlier period.

As a result, the Calgary-based pipeline and utility company's net income per share was 13 cents per share, well below analyst estimates.

The special items included a non-cash accounting charge from the write down of assets held for sale of $2.8 billion after tax, partially offset by a $2.0 billion non-cash accounting benefit resulting from U.S. Tax Reform.

Excluding the special items, however, Enbridge's adjusted earnings were above estimates at $1.01 billion or 61 cents per common share.

Analysts had estimated 55 cents per share of net income and 56 cents per share of adjusted earnings, according to data from Thomson Reuters.