Kinder Morgan forecasts lower full year adjusted core earnings

(Reuters) - Kinder Morgan Inc said its adjusted full-year core earnings is expected to be slightly below budget and the pipeline operator posted a 14.6 percent rise in quarterly net income on Wednesday. The company's net income available to common shareholders rose to $556 million for the first quarter ended March 31, from $485 million, a year earlier, as it transported higher natural gas volumes. However, Kinder Morgan said its 2019 distributable cash flow would meet its prior expectation of $5 billion, or $2.20 per share, as lower interest expense offsets the slightly lower adjusted core earnings. It had forecast adjusted full-year core earnings of about $7.8 billion in January. Separately, Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd reported a 52 percent jump in first-quarter income from continuing operations of $21.3 million. The Canadian company said it expects to announce the results of a strategic review process, which includes a possible sale, in the coming weeks. (Reporting by Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by James Emmanuel)