Hawaiian Electric Industries Q2 Earnings Call Highlights

Hawaiian Electric Industries NYSE: HE reported second-quarter 2026 net income of $123.2 million, or $0.71 per share, including a non-cash accounting adjustment related to the Maui wildfire settlement liability. Senior Vice President and CFO Paul Ito said the settlement liability was reclassified from a contingent liability to a contractual liability after final conditions to payment were met. The company remeasured the remaining liability to present value, reducing it from $1.44 billion to $1.3 billion and lowering expenses by $153.9 million. The benefit will reverse over the next three years through interest-expense accretion, Ito said. The company also recorded $8.5 million of insurance recoveries during the quarter related to the Maui wildfire tort liability. Excluding Maui wildfire settlement-related items and losses tied to Pacific Current asset sales, which the company classifies as non-core, consolidated core net income was $22.5 million, or $0.13 per share. That compared with $35.4 million, or $0.20 per share, in the second quarter of 2025. Utility core net income declined to $32.6 million from $42.5 million a year earlier. Ito attributed the decrease primarily to higher interest expense following the company’s September 2025 debt issuance, along with higher operations and maintenance costs. The higher O&M costs reflected increased vegetation-management spending, generation overhaul and maintenance expenses, and overhead and underground inspection and maintenance work. Holding-company core net loss widened to $10.1 million from $7.1 million in the prior-year period, largely because interest income fell after the company used cash for its first settlement payment. As of the end of the quarter, Hawaiian Electric Industries had approximately $1.3 billion of total consolidated liquidity. The holding company had about $52 million of unrestricted cash, while the utility had approximately $186 million. Additional liquidity was available through the holding company’s at-the-market program and credit facilities, as well as the utility’s accounts receivable and revolving credit facilities. Management said it has not experienced a meaningful increase in bad-debt expense or write-offs during 2026 despite sustained higher fuel prices. Bad-debt expense was lower than at the same point last year, while net write-offs were relatively flat, according to Ito. President and CEO Scott Seu said the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission approved the utility’s three-year Wildfire Mitigation Plan in December...