(Reuters) -Xcel Energy missed Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter profit on Thursday, as the utility firm was hurt by higher expenses on the back of maintenance activities, sending its shares down 1.6% in morning trade.
The Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Xcel reported quarterly operating and maintenance expenses of $618 million, up 6.6% from a year earlier.
The company said the expenses were up due to operational activities, including generation maintenance, storm response, wildfire mitigation costs and damage prevention.
Xcel reported an adjusted profit of 81 cents per share for the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with analysts’ estimates of 87 cents, according to data compiled by LSEG.
However, its profit rose 13.4% to $464 million for the quarter compared to the previous year, helped by earnings in Minnesota and Colorado regions, on higher recovery of electric and natural gas infrastructure investments.
Regulated utilities use rate case proceedings to seek a rate increase based on their investments or expenses to provide services.
Xcel Energy serves a total of 3.7 million electricity customers and 2.1 million natural gas customers across eight states of Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin.
(Reporting by Tanay Dhumal in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)
