Entergy Wholesale Commodities, which operates three nuclear plants in the northeastern United States, on Wednesday posted another steep loss for the fourth quarter of 2018.
The business reported a $373 million loss on an as-reported basis, $2.04 per share. The loss on an operational basis was recorded at $158 million, or $0.87 per share.
While not pretty, the numbers represented a partial improvement from the same period of 2017. For that quarter, Entergy Wholesale Commodities cited an as-reported loss of $425 million, $2.36 per share, but earned $63 million, $0.35 per share, on an operational basis.
The as-reported numbers are connected to impairments and costs from Entergy’s ongoing effort to wind down its Wholesale Commodities business. Those reached $214 million, $1.17 per share, in the fourth quarter. Revising the asset retirement obligation for the closed Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, which Entergy in January sold to NorthStar Group Services, alone generated a $173 million pretax asset impairment.
“The current period results included losses on decommissioning trust fund investments, as well as lower net revenue as a result of lower nuclear energy volume,” Entergy said in its earnings release. “Partially offsetting these items were lower non-fuel O&M expense and lower income tax expense primarily due to lower pretax income.”
The Vermont Yankee sale left Entergy Wholesale Commodities with three nuclear power plants: Pilgrim in Massachusetts, Palisades in Michigan, and Indian Point in New York. It plans to close and sell all the sites in the next few years.
Exiting Wholesale Commodities is intended to convert New Orleans-based Entergy into a “pure play utility.”
For all of 2018, Wholesale Commodities reported a $343 million loss, $1.87 per share, on an as-reported basis. However, it earned $188 million, $1.02 per share, on an operational basis.
Company-wide, Entergy said it lost $0.36 per share on an as-reported basis in fourth-quarter 2018 and earned $0.60 per share on an operational basis. The full-year earnings were $4.63 per share on an as-reported basis and $7.31 on an operational basis.
