JUNO BEACH, Fla., Feb. 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The board of
directors of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) declared a regular
quarterly common stock dividend of $0.385 per share, up 10% versus the
prior-year comparable quarterly dividend.
This increase is consistent with the plan approved by the board
in 2020, targeting roughly 10% dividend growth per year through at
least 2022 off a 2020 base. The dividend is payable on March 15, 2021, to shareholders of record on
Feb. 26, 2021.
"The board's approval to continue to grow our dividends per
share in excess of our long-term 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 61% payout ratio at the end of 2020,
well below the peer average of approximately 64%, and the continued
strength of the earnings and operating cash flow growth at NextEra
Energy, we remain well-positioned to continue to support the
dividend policy going forward. I believe we continue to offer a
best-in-class investor value proposition, 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 2021, 2022 and 2023, while at the same time
maintaining our strong credit ratings."
NextEra Energy, Inc.
NextEra Energy, Inc. is a leading clean energy company
headquartered in Juno Beach,
Florida. NextEra Energy owns Florida
Power & Light Company, which is the largest
rate-regulated electric utility in the
United States as measured by retail electricity produced and
sold, and serves more than 5.6 million customer accounts,
supporting more than 11 million residents across Florida with
clean, reliable and affordable electricity. NextEra Energy also
owns a competitive clean 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 seven
commercial nuclear power units in Florida, New
Hampshire 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 2021 list of "World's Most
Admired Companies" and received the S&P Global Platts 2020
Energy Transition Award for leadership in environmental, social and
governance. 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
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. (NextEra
Energy) and Florida Power &
Light Company (FPL) regarding future operating results and other
future events, many of which, by their nature, are inherently
uncertain and outside of NextEra Energy's and FPL'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 FPL and their business and financial condition are
subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause their actual
results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the
forward-looking statements, or may require them to limit or
eliminate certain operations. These risks and uncertainties
include, but are not limited to, those discussed in this news
release and the following: effects of extensive regulation of
NextEra Energy's and FPL's business operations; inability of
NextEra Energy and FPL 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 and FPL; disallowance of cost
recovery by FPL 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 of NextEra Energy
Resources, LLC and its affiliated entities (NextEra Energy
Resources) 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 and FPL; capital expenditures, increased operating
costs and various liabilities attributable to environmental laws,
regulations and other standards applicable to NextEra Energy and
FPL; effects on NextEra Energy and FPL of federal or state laws or
regulations mandating new or additional limits on the production of
greenhouse gas emissions; exposure of NextEra Energy and FPL to
significant and increasing compliance costs and substantial
monetary penalties and other sanctions as a result of extensive
federal regulation of their operations and businesses; effect on
NextEra Energy and FPL 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 and FPL of
adverse results of litigation; effect on NextEra Energy and FPL 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 and FPL 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 and FPL of a lack of
growth or slower growth in the number of customers or in customer
usage; impact on NextEra Energy and FPL of severe weather and other
weather conditions; threats of terrorism and catastrophic events
that could result from terrorism, cyberattacks or other attempts to
disrupt NextEra Energy's and FPL's business or the businesses of
third parties; inability to obtain adequate insurance coverage for
protection of NextEra Energy and FPL 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 Resources' gas infrastructure
business and cause NextEra Energy Resources to delay or cancel
certain gas infrastructure projects and could result in certain
projects becoming impaired; risk to NextEra Energy Resources of
increased operating costs resulting from unfavorable supply costs
necessary to provide NextEra Energy Resources' full energy and
capacity requirement services; inability or failure by NextEra
Energy Resources 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 and FPL's risk
management tools associated with their 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 by NextEra Energy, including FPL; exposure of
NextEra Energy and FPL to credit and performance risk from
customers, hedging counterparties and vendors; failure of NextEra
Energy or FPL counterparties to perform under derivative contracts
or of requirement for NextEra Energy or FPL to post margin cash
collateral under derivative contracts; failure or breach of NextEra
Energy's or FPL's information technology systems; risks to NextEra
Energy and FPL'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 of NextEra Energy and FPL to
maintain, negotiate or renegotiate acceptable franchise agreements
with municipalities and counties in Florida; 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;
environmental, health and financial risks associated with NextEra
Energy Resources' and FPL's ownership and operation of nuclear
generation facilities; liability of NextEra Energy and FPL 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 of NextEra
Energy or FPL resulting from orders or new regulations of the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission; inability to operate any of NextEra
Energy Resources' or FPL's owned nuclear generation units through
the end of their respective operating licenses; 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 and FPL's ability to fund their liquidity and capital
needs and meet their growth objectives; inability of NextEra
Energy, FPL and NextEra Energy Capital Holdings, Inc. to maintain
their current credit ratings; impairment of NextEra Energy's and
FPL's 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 NextEra Energy's and FPL's 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; effects of
disruptions, uncertainty or volatility in the credit and capital
markets on the market price of NextEra Energy's common stock; and
the ultimate severity and duration of the coronavirus pandemic and
its effects on NextEra Energy's or FPL's businesses. NextEra Energy
and FPL discuss these and other risks and uncertainties in their
annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 and other SEC filings, and this
news release should be read in conjunction with such SEC filings.
The forward-looking statements made in this news release are made
only as of the date of this news release and NextEra Energy and FPL
undertake no obligation to update any forward- looking
statements.
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SOURCE NextEra Energy, Inc.