NextEra Customer Supply Business Results Dip in Fourth Quarter, Up for Fiscal Year

NextEra Energy, Inc.'s Customer Supply business recorded lower contributions to its parents earnings in the fourth quarter of 2010, but for the full fiscal year 2010, improved its parent's earnings by about $42 million.

The Customer Supply business includes retail marketing under Gexa Energy (now branded as NextEra in non-ERCOT markets), as well as NextEra Energy Resources' full requirements wholesale supply business.

In the fourth quarter, the Customer Supply business recorded lower earnings which negatively impacted the parent's earnings by $8 million versus the year-ago quarter (all amounts on an adjusted basis).

For the full fiscal year, improved results at the Customer Supply business lifted its parent's earnings by $42 million versus fiscal 2009. The improvement was due to a strong full requirements business as well as Gexa retail and mid-marketing origination contributions. Within the full requirements business, the sale of a power supply contract in the first quarter, new contracts, and favorable market conditions contributed to the strong results for the year.

NextEra CFO Armando Pimentel told investors that the company is seeing, "pretty decent and strong business in both our retail business and full requirements business."

COO James Robo added that, "from a retail standpoint, we're seeing good growth opportunities in Texas. And frankly, there's good headroom in PJM and some of the northern markets as well."

Asked about migration risk for the full requirements business, given increased shopping levels in several states, Pimentel said that NextEra has appropriately priced migration risk and, "[we] haven't been too surprised by what's happened this year."

Pimentel cited weather as a larger risk than migration for the full requirements business.

NextEra has not yet filed a 10-K.