TransCanada’s profit in the third quarter down 4%

TransCanada Corp. (TSX, NYSE:TRP), Canada’s largest pipeline company, said Tuesday third-quarter profit dropped 4% compared to the same period last year, missing estimates.

The Calgary-based pipeline operator’s net income was $369-million or 52 cents per share, down from $386-million or 55 cents per share.

The firm’s comparable earnings, another measure of profitability, fell more to $349-million or 50 cents per share from $416-million or 59 cents per share.

Over the next three years, TransCanada expects to complete $13 billion of projects currently in advanced stages of development. They include the Bruce Power Unit 1 and 2 Restart Project, the Gulf Coast Project, Keystone XL, the Tamazunchale extension, Canadian Solar and the ongoing expansion of the Alberta System.

Yesterday the company announced that it has entered into a 50-50 partnership with Phoenix Energy Holdings Ltd. to build a $3-billion pipeline in Northern Alberta.

The Grand Rapids project will carry crude oil and diluent for oil sands producers northwest of Fort McMurry, one of the centres of Canada’s oil sands industry, starting in early 2017.