CenterPoint aims to announce Ohio gas utility sale by year-end

CenterPoint aims to announce Ohio gas utility sale by year-end

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) has announced its intention to sell its Ohio Gas local distribution company (LDC) by the end of the year. This move aims to streamline its portfolio and further its strategic objectives. The announcement was made during the company's second quarter 2025 investor presentation, which revealed a decrease in quarterly earnings while maintaining its full-year guidance and announcing a significant expansion of its long-term capital investment plan.

The company reported non-GAAP earnings per share (EPS) of $0.29 for Q2 2025, down from $0.36 in the same period last year. Despite this decline, CenterPoint reaffirmed its 2025 guidance range of $1.74-$1.76 per share, representing an 8% growth at the midpoint compared to 2024. The stock closed at $37.12 on July 23, 2025, down 1.69% for the day, but remains near its 52-week high of $39.31. Year-to-date, CenterPoint shares have delivered strong performance, reflecting investor confidence in the company’s long-term growth strategy despite the quarterly earnings dip.

CenterPoint's strategic initiatives include a $5.5 billion increase to its 10-year capital investment plan since year-end 2024, bringing the total to $53.0 billion through 2030. This expansion primarily targets electric transmission ($4.3B), resiliency investments ($0.5B), and Texas gas infrastructure ($0.8B). The company also highlighted its System Resiliency Plan, which includes approximately $3.2 billion in investments from 2026 through 2028. This plan aims to strengthen overall grid resiliency by 30%, reduce outages by over 900 million minutes into 2029, and save approximately $25 million per year in storm-related distribution costs.

The sale of its Ohio Gas LDC is part of CenterPoint's efforts to focus on its core competencies and improve operational efficiency. This move follows the company's completion of all state and public commitments related to Phase II of the Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative ahead of schedule. The sale is expected to generate significant proceeds, which will be used to fund the company's ongoing capital investment plan and further its strategic objectives.

CenterPoint's management remains optimistic about future growth, reiterating its 2025 non-GAAP EPS guidance range of $1.74-$1.76. This guidance reflects an 8% growth over the full-year 2024 non-GAAP EPS, emphasizing the company's focus on long-term value creation and operational efficiency.

References:
[1] https://au.investing.com/news/company-news/centerpoint-energy-q2-2025-slides-eps-dips-but-capital-plan-expands-by-55b-93CH-3940568
[2] https://www.gurufocus.com/news/3000453/centerpoint-energy-q2-2025-earnings-eps-of-030-misses-estimate-revenue-details-unavailable