OREANDA-NEWS. TransCanada Corporation (TSX:TRP)(NYSE:TRP) (TransCanada) today announced net income attributable to common shares for fourth quarter 2014 of USD 458 million or USD 0.65 per share compared to USD 420 million or USD 0.59 per share for the same period in 2013. For the year ended December 31, 2014, net income attributable to common shares was USD 1.7 billion or USD 2.46 per share compared to USD 1.7 billion or USD 2.42 per share in 2013. Comparable earnings for fourth quarter 2014 were USD 511 million or USD 0.72 per share compared to USD 410 million or USD 0.58 per share for the same period last year. For the year ended December 31, 2014, comparable earnings were USD 1.7 billion or USD 2.42 per share compared to USD 1.6 billion or USD 2.24 per share in 2013. TransCanada's Board of Directors also declared a quarterly dividend of USD 0.52 per common share for the quarter ending March 31, 2015, equivalent to USD 2.08 per common share on an annualized basis, an increase of eight per cent. This is the fifteenth consecutive year the Board of Directors has raised the dividend.

"Comparable earnings and funds generated from operations in 2014 increased eight per cent and seven per cent, respectively compared to last year," said Russ Girling, TransCanada's president and chief executive officer. "Our strong performance reflects the diversity and stability of our complementary businesses and USD 3.8 billion of new assets that were placed into service in 2014. Looking forward, the resiliency of our business model and a strong balance sheet leaves us well positioned to continue to create shareholder value under various market conditions.

"With an additional USD 12 billion of small-to-medium sized projects expected to be completed and placed into service by the end of 2017, and the steps we have taken to solidify the long-term returns from existing assets such as the Canadian Mainline and ANR, we are also pleased to announce an eight per cent increase in the common share dividend", added Girling. "Our financial strength and flexibility provides us with the capacity to raise the dividend and to continue to prudently fund our industry-leading capital program."

Over the course of 2014, we captured approximately USD 7 billion of new projects primarily related to our Canadian regulated natural gas pipeline business. With these additions, our capital program now includes USD 46 billion of commercially secured projects which are backed by long-term contracts or cost of service business models. We continue to advance this unprecedented slate of growth initiatives, with many currently under construction or proceeding through their respective regulatory processes. Over the remainder of the decade, subject to required approvals, this blue-chip portfolio of contracted energy infrastructure is expected to generate significant sustainable growth in earnings, cash flow and dividends.