CMS Energy to sell Equatorial Guinea fields, methanol plant

CMS Energy Corp. said Friday it has changed its business strategy and will sell its interests in its Equatorial Guinea oil and gas fields and methanol plant.

Oct. 26, 2001

2 min read

By the OGJ Online Staff

HOUSTON, Oct. 26 -- CMS Energy Corp., Dearborn, Mich., said Friday it has changed its business strategy and will sell its interests in its Equatorial Guinea oil and gas fields and methanol plant.

Also on the block will be the company's non-strategic international power generation assets, including two South American electric distribution businesses. The planned asset sales are expected to raise about $2.4 billion (OGJ Online, June 8, 2001)..

CMS said the actions would strengthen its balance sheet, provide more predictable earnings, and lower its business risk by focusing future business growth in North America.

CMS was negotiating to sell its interest in the Loy Yang Power facility in Australia and its interests in Equatorial Guinea for a total of $1.2 billion. It signed a deal this week to sell its Michigan electric transmission system for $290 million.

The company also said it is committed to maintaining its annual dividend at $1.46/share. It said as a result of proceeds from the asset sales, its debt will fall to 58% of capital by yearend 2002 and 55% by late 2003.

CMS predicted earnings in 2002, excluding 85�/share from the asset sales, to be about $2/share. It said that figure reflects substantially lower oil and gas commodity prices and lower utility sales due to the weak economy.

Beyond 2002, it said earnings per share should rise 7-9%/year with growth principally in electric and gas marketing, exploration and production, pipelines, midstream, and liquefied natural gas receiving and processing.