JUNO BEACH, Fla., Feb. 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The board of
directors of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) today declared a
regular quarterly common stock dividend of $1.40 per share, up 12% versus the
prior-year comparable quarterly dividend. This increase is
consistent with the plan announced in 2018 of targeting 12% to 14%
annual growth in dividends per share through at least 2020, off a
2017 base. The dividend is payable on March
16, 2020, to shareholders of record on Feb. 28, 2020.
The board also approved an updated dividend policy for beyond
2020, which is expected to translate to a growth rate in dividends
per share of roughly 10% per year through at least 2022, off a 2020
base, which is expected to be $5.60
per share.
"The board's approval to continue to grow our dividends per
share in excess of our expected adjusted earnings per share growth
rate is a result of our success in executing on our
industry-leading business strategy," said Jim Robo, chairman and chief executive officer
of NextEra Energy. "With a 60% payout ratio at the end of 2019,
well below the peer average of approximately 65%, and the continued
strength of the earnings and operating cash flow growth at NextEra
Energy, we remain well-positioned to support the dividend policy
going forward. I believe we continue to offer a best-in-class total
return potential, with above-average dividend growth and clear
visibility to deliver financial results at or near the top end
of our adjusted earnings per share expectations ranges in 2020,
2021 and 2022, while at the same time maintaining our strong credit
ratings."
NextEra Energy, Inc.
NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE)
is a leading clean energy company headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida. NextEra Energy owns two
electric companies in Florida:
Florida Power & Light Company,
which serves more than 5 million customer accounts in Florida and is one of the largest
rate-regulated electric utilities in the
United States; and Gulf Power Company, which serves more
than 470,000 customers in eight counties throughout northwest
Florida. NextEra Energy also owns a competitive energy business,
NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, which, together with its affiliated
entities, is the world's largest generator of renewable energy from
the wind and sun and a world leader in battery storage. Through its
subsidiaries, NextEra Energy generates clean, emissions-free
electricity from eight commercial nuclear power units in
Florida, New Hampshire, Iowa and Wisconsin. A Fortune 200 company and included
in the S&P 100 index, NextEra Energy has been recognized often
by third parties for its efforts in sustainability, corporate
responsibility, ethics and compliance, and diversity. NextEra
Energy is ranked No. 1 in the electric and gas utilities industry
on Fortune's 2020 list of "World's Most Admired Companies" and
ranked among the top 25 on Fortune's 2018 list of companies that
"Change the World." For more information about NextEra Energy
companies, visit these websites: www.NextEraEnergy.com,
www.FPL.com, www.GulfPower.com, www.NextEraEnergyResources.com.
Cautionary Statements and Risk Factors That
May Affect Future Results for NextEra Energy, Inc.
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within
the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are
not statements of historical facts, but instead represent the
current expectations of NextEra Energy, Inc. (together with its
subsidiaries, NextEra Energy) regarding future operating results
and other future events, many of which, by their nature, are
inherently uncertain and outside of NextEra Energy's control.
Forward-looking statements in this news release include, among
others, statements concerning adjusted earnings per share
expectations and future operating performance, statements
concerning future dividends, and results of acquisitions. In some
cases, you can identify the forward-looking statements by words or
phrases such as "will," "may result," "expect," "anticipate,"
"believe," "intend," "plan," "seek," "potential," "projection,"
"forecast," "predict," "goals," "target," "outlook," "should,"
"would" or similar words or expressions. You should not place
undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are not a
guarantee of future performance. The future results of NextEra
Energy and its business and financial condition are subject to
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking
statements, or may require it to limit or eliminate certain
operations. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not
limited to, the following: effects of extensive regulation of
NextEra Energy's business operations; inability of NextEra Energy
to recover in a timely manner any significant amount of costs, a
return on certain assets or a reasonable return on invested capital
through base rates, cost recovery clauses, other regulatory
mechanisms or otherwise; impact of political, regulatory and
economic factors on regulatory decisions important to NextEra
Energy; disallowance of cost recovery based on a finding of
imprudent use of derivative instruments; effect of any reductions
or modifications to, or elimination of, governmental incentives or
policies that support utility scale renewable energy projects or
the imposition of additional tax laws, policies or assessments on
renewable energy; impact of new or revised laws, regulations,
interpretations or ballot or regulatory initiatives on NextEra
Energy; capital expenditures, increased operating costs and various
liabilities attributable to environmental laws, regulations and
other standards applicable to NextEra Energy; effects on NextEra
Energy of federal or state laws or regulations mandating new or
additional limits on the production of greenhouse gas emissions;
exposure of NextEra Energy to significant and increasing compliance
costs and substantial monetary penalties and other sanctions as a
result of extensive federal regulation of its operations and
businesses; effect on NextEra Energy of changes in tax laws,
guidance or policies as well as in judgments and estimates used to
determine tax-related asset and liability amounts; impact on
NextEra Energy of adverse results of litigation; effect on NextEra
Energy of failure to proceed with projects under development or
inability to complete the construction of (or capital improvements
to) electric generation, transmission and distribution facilities,
gas infrastructure facilities or other facilities on schedule or
within budget; impact on development and operating activities of
NextEra Energy resulting from risks related to project siting,
financing, construction, permitting, governmental approvals and the
negotiation of project development agreements; risks involved in
the operation and maintenance of electric generation, transmission
and distribution facilities, gas infrastructure facilities, retail
gas distribution system in Florida
and other facilities; effect on NextEra Energy of a lack of growth
or slower growth in the number of customers or in customer usage;
impact on NextEra Energy of severe weather and other weather
conditions; threats of terrorism and catastrophic events that could
result from terrorism, cyber attacks or other attempts to disrupt
NextEra Energy's business or the businesses of third parties;
inability to obtain adequate insurance coverage for protection of
NextEra Energy against significant losses and risk that insurance
coverage does not provide protection against all significant
losses; a prolonged period of low gas and oil prices could impact
NextEra Energy's gas infrastructure business and cause NextEra
Energy to delay or cancel certain gas infrastructure projects and
could result in certain projects becoming impaired; risk of
increased operating costs resulting from unfavorable supply costs
necessary to provide full energy and capacity requirement services;
inability or failure to manage properly or hedge effectively the
commodity risk within its portfolio; effect of reductions in the
liquidity of energy markets on NextEra Energy's ability to manage
operational risks; effectiveness of NextEra Energy's risk
management tools associated with its hedging and trading procedures
to protect against significant losses, including the effect of
unforeseen price variances from historical behavior; impact of
unavailability or disruption of power transmission or commodity
transportation facilities on sale and delivery of power or natural
gas; exposure of NextEra Energy to credit and performance risk from
customers, hedging counterparties and vendors; failure of
counterparties to perform under derivative contracts or of
requirement for NextEra Energy to post margin cash collateral under
derivative contracts; failure or breach of NextEra Energy's
information technology systems; risks to NextEra Energy's retail
businesses from compromise of sensitive customer data; losses from
volatility in the market values of derivative instruments and
limited liquidity in OTC markets; impact of negative publicity;
inability to maintain, negotiate or renegotiate acceptable
franchise agreements; occurrence of work strikes or stoppages and
increasing personnel costs; NextEra Energy's ability to
successfully identify, complete and integrate acquisitions,
including the effect of increased competition for acquisitions; the
inability to realize the anticipated benefits of the Gulf Power
Company acquisition; environmental, health and financial risks
associated with ownership and operation of nuclear generation
facilities; liability of NextEra Energy for significant
retrospective assessments and/or retrospective insurance premiums
in the event of an incident at certain nuclear generation
facilities; increased operating and capital expenditures and/or
reduced revenues at nuclear generation facilities resulting from
orders or new regulations of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission;
inability to operate any of NextEra Energy's owned nuclear
generation units through the end of their respective operating
licenses or through expected shutdown; effect of disruptions,
uncertainty or volatility in the credit and capital markets or
actions by third parties in connection with project-specific or
other financing arrangements on NextEra Energy's ability to fund
its liquidity and capital needs and meet its growth objectives;
inability to maintain current credit ratings; impairment of
liquidity from inability of credit providers to fund their credit
commitments or to maintain their current credit ratings; poor
market performance and other economic factors that could affect
NextEra Energy's defined benefit pension plan's funded status; poor
market performance and other risks to the asset values of nuclear
decommissioning funds; changes in market value and other risks to
certain of NextEra Energy's investments; effect of inability of
NextEra Energy subsidiaries to pay upstream dividends or repay
funds to NextEra Energy or of NextEra Energy's performance under
guarantees of subsidiary obligations on NextEra Energy's ability to
meet its financial obligations and to pay dividends on its common
stock; the fact that the amount and timing of dividends payable on
NextEra Energy's common stock, as well as the dividend policy
approved by NextEra Energy's board of directors from time to time,
and changes to that policy, are within the sole discretion of
NextEra Energy's board of directors and, if declared and paid,
dividends may be in amounts that are less than might be expected by
shareholders; NEP's inability to access sources of capital on
commercially reasonable terms could have an effect on its ability
to consummate future acquisitions and on the value of NextEra
Energy's limited partner interest in NextEra Energy Operating
Partners, LP; and effects of disruptions, uncertainty or volatility
in the credit and capital markets on the market price of NextEra
Energy's common stock. NextEra Energy discusses these and other
risks and uncertainties in its annual report on Form 10-K for the
year ended December 31, 2018 and
other SEC filings, and this news release should be read in
conjunction with such SEC filings made through the date of this
news release. The forward-looking statements made in this news
release are made only as of the date of this news release and
NextEra Energy undertakes no obligation to update any
forward-looking statements.
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SOURCE NextEra Energy, Inc.