Williams Companies Inc's Earnings Take a Breather as It Prepares to Re-Accelerate

For the first time in 15 quarters, Williams Companies (NYSE: WMB) and its MLP Williams Partners (NYSE: WPZ), failed to grow earnings. However, that wasn't entirely unexpected since the pipeline companies faced some headwinds in the third quarter. That said, this step back is just a temporary blip for a franchise that has several growth projects underway that should enable both companies to deliver healthy income growth for investors in the coming years.

Overall, Williams Partners generated $1.101 billion of adjusted EBITDA, which was $88 million less than it earned in the year-ago quarter. That decline took down distributable cash flow as well, with it falling from $795 million in the year-ago quarter to $669 million. That said, Williams Partners still generated enough money to cover its distribution to investors by 1.17 times. The primary recipient of those distributions was Williams Companies since it owns a 74% stake in the MLP. After expenses, it produced $355 million in cash flow available for dividends, which was down from $441 million in the year-ago period. However, Williams still covered its payout to investors by 1.43 times.

Several factors drove the decline in Williams Partners' earnings and cash flow:

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Source: Fool.com