Mr. Al Monaco reports

ENBRIDGE INC. REPORTS FOURTH QUARTER 2017 RESULTS

Enbridge Inc. has released its fourth quarter 2017 financial results and provided a quarterly business update.

Fourth quarter and full-year highlights (all financial figures are unaudited):

• Earnings of $207-million, or 13 cents per common share, for the fourth quarter and earnings of $2,529-million, or $1.66 per common share for the full year, both including the impact of a number of unusual, non-recurring or non-operating factors;
• Adjusted earnings of $1,013-million, or 61 cents per common share, for the fourth quarter and $2,982-million, or $1.96 per common share, for the full year;
• Adjusted earnings before interest, income tax and depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of $2,963-million for the fourth quarter and $10,317-million for the full year;
• Distributable cash flow (DCF) was $1,741-million for the fourth quarter and $5,614-million for the full year; cash provided by operating activities was $1,341-million for the fourth quarter and $6,584-million for the full year;
• Completed merger with Spectra Energy, creating the largest North American energy infrastructure company with leading liquids, natural gas transmission and natural gas distribution utility footprints;
• Achieved 2017 target synergy capture and progressed cost management initiatives;
• Completed corporate simplification transactions through several sponsored vehicle actions and filed a utility amalgamation plan with the Ontario Energy Board;
• Brought a total of $12-billion of growth projects into service in 2017, with an additional $22-billion of secured growth projects expected to come into service through 2020;
• Advanced Line 3 replacement project construction in Canada; Minnesota regulatory process reaffirmed with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC), permit decisions expected in the second quarter of 2018;
• Executed $14-billion of new capital market financing in 2017 and completed $2.6-billion of asset sales after the merger transaction announcement;
• Announced the details of the company's updated strategic business outlook for and financing plan for 2018 to 2020, including 2018 DCF guidance of $4.15 to $4.45 per share;
• Increased the dividend by 15 per cent in 2017, increased the dividend by another 10 per cent for 2018 and guided to 10-per-cent compound annual dividend-per-share growth through 2020.

Chief executive officer comment

"This has been a transformational year for our company," commented Al Monaco, president and chief executive officer of Enbridge. "With the Spectra Energy assets now in the fold, we have successfully delivered on our strategy to rebalance our business mix with best-in-class natural gas transmission assets and further enhance and extend our growth potential. We've substantially integrated the two companies and are slightly ahead of target for capturing cost synergies as we streamline operations and create an even more effective and efficient organization.

"In addition to the merger, we significantly added to our leading infrastructure footprint, bringing a total of $12-billion of new assets into service, substantially on time and on budget. This marks the single-largest year for project completion in our history, and these assets will provide growing and predictable cash flows to support our premium dividend growth.

"Our full-year financial results came in roughly where we expected and within our DCF-per-share guidance range. However, as we had previously identified, the timing of the closing of the merger, customer project delays and facility outages, and a weak commodity price environment affecting the gas mid-stream and energy services businesses impacted our full-year results.

"Fourth quarter results were strong and demonstrate the earnings power of our core businesses. Liquids pipelines volumes reached record levels in December and the demand outlook remains robust into 2018 as WCSB [Western Canadian sedimentary basin] crude production volumes continue to rise. Our gas transmission business delivered another rock solid quarter with steady volumes and new projects in service, and the gas distribution businesses continued to have strong rate base growth within their franchises. Importantly, we accomplished all of this while maintaining our leading operational safety and reliability performance.

"We also made good progress on our priority to strengthen the balance sheet as we build out our secured growth program, raising about $5-billion of equity or equity equivalent funding during the year. And we have a readily executable plan to achieve our longer-term leverage targets by the end of 2018.

"Looking forward, with our updated strategic and financial plan, we've set a course for the next three years that reflects the right combination of capital discipline while deleveraging the balance sheet and maintaining ample funding flexibility for our $22-billion secured project inventory. We continue to see a significant opportunity set for new low-risk growth in our core footprint beyond the 2020 horizon.

"We accomplished several important milestones in 2017, and we are well positioned heading into 2018 and beyond."

Financial results summary

Financial results for the three and 12 months ended Dec. 31, 2017, are summarized in the attached table.

                                     FINANCIAL RESULTS SUMMARY
                          (in millions of dollars, except per-share amounts)

                                                  Three months ended Dec. 31,          Year ended Dec. 31,
                                                        2017            2016         2017            2016

Earnings                                             $   207         $   365      $ 2,529         $ 1,776
Earnings per common share                               0.13            0.39         1.66            1.95
Cash provided by operating activities                  1,341           1,058        6,584           5,211
Adjusted EBITDA                                        2,963           1,762       10,317           6,902
Adjusted earnings                                      1,013             522        2,982           2,078
Adjusted earnings per common share                      0.61            0.56         1.96            2.28
Distributable cash flow                                1,741             879        5,614           3,713

Earnings attributable to common shareholders for the year ended Dec. 31, 2017, increased by $753-million relative to 2016, primarily as a result of the merger transaction. Earnings for the fourth quarter of 2017 decreased by $158-million relative to the comparable period in 2016. The year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter comparability of earnings attributable to common shareholders was impacted by certain unusual and infrequent factors, including a non-cash accounting charge resulting from the writedown of assets held for sale of $2.8-billion after tax, partially offset by a non-cash accounting benefit resulting from a U.S. tax reform of $2-billion (U.S.).

Adjusted earnings growth for the fourth quarter and full-year 2017 benefited from the net effect of higher contributions from Enbridge's new natural gas, liquids and utility assets. Also contributing to earnings growth was stronger crude oil throughput on the Mainline system, new projects coming into service in the liquids pipelines, gas transmission and mid-stream, and gas distribution segments, and stronger realized settlements on foreign exchange hedges. These positive contributors were partially offset by lower natural gas gathering and processing volumes and margins on certain U.S. mid-stream assets and weaker performance in the energy services segment.

DCF for the fourth quarter was $1,741-million, an increase of $862-million over the comparable prior period in 2016, driven largely by the same factors noted herein.

Project execution update

Enbridge continues to make good progress executing on its secured growth capital program. These projects are supported by long-term take-or-pay contracts, cost-of-service frameworks or similar low-risk commercial arrangements and are diversified across a wide range of business platforms and regulatory jurisdictions.

In 2017, $12-billion of commercially secured projects were brought into service, substantially on time and on budget. This execution success highlights Enbridge's strong project management capability and its commitment to managing all critical stakeholder relationships. These projects meaningfully contributed to DCF growth in 2017, with full contributions expected in 2018 and 2019 as contracted capacity ramps up on certain projects and all contribute a full year of earnings and cash flow.

Enbridge is also advancing the remaining $22-billion secured growth project inventory. Construction has commenced on the $1.3-billion (U.S.) Nexus gas pipeline and is expected to be in service in the third quarter of 2018. Construction on the $1.5-billion (U.S.) Valley Crossing pipeline in Texas is progressing well and remains on schedule for a fourth quarter 2018 in service date. The $800-million Rampion offshore wind power generation project in the United Kingdom has begun generating power and full operations are expected in the first half of 2018 as the remaining turbines are connected to the grid.

Following the receipt of all required regulatory permitting for the Line 3 replacement in Canada, construction began in August, 2017, on certain segments of the pipeline and construction will continue through the winter. Regulatory permitting is also in place in North Dakota as well as in Wisconsin, where construction is substantially complete.

In Minnesota, the MPUC is expected to vote on the certificate of need and route permit at the end of the second quarter of 2018. In parallel with this process, additional clarification and analysis will be provided to support the adequacy of the final environmental impact statement, as requested by the MPUC in December. Management continues to anticipate an in-service date for the project in the second half of 2019.

Strategic and financial update

On Nov. 29, 2018, Enbridge released the details of its updated strategic business plan. The strategic planning process included a review of all existing businesses after the merger transaction. The conclusion reached was to focus Enbridge's asset mix to a pure regulated pipeline and utility business model over time, which emphasizes low risk and strong growth in its three crown jewel businesses: liquids pipelines and terminals, natural gas transmission and storage, and natural gas utilities. This focused approach will result in disciplined capital allocation for growth projects and additional non-core asset sales.

The company also provided details on its secured financing plan designed to finance Enbridge's secured growth program while deleveraging the balance sheet. The plan achieves strong, investment-grade credit metrics throughout the three-year period, with the company's debt-to-EBITDA metric expected to reach 5.0 times by the end of 2018 and remaining below this long-term target level going forward.

In 2017, close to $14-billion of new long-term capital was raised across the Enbridge group, of which $5-billion was equity or equity equivalent financing. The 2018 financing plan includes the issuance of $3.5-billion of hybrid securities and sale or monetization of at least $3-billion of non-core assets in 2018. The remaining equity financing requirement can readily be met through a combination of additional hybrid equity, asset monetization or issuances of common shares under the company's DRIP (dividend reinvestment program).

Enbridge made good progress in 2017 with its strategic priority to restructure and simplify the organization by taking several sponsored vehicle actions, including: the Enbridge Energy Partners LP (EEP) restructuring, Midcoast Energy privatization, DCP mid-stream simplification and Spectra Energy Partners LP (SEP) incentive distribution elimination. Enbridge plans to continue to identify and evaluate further streamlining opportunities as appropriate.

U.S. tax reform

On Dec. 22, 2017, the United States implemented a U.S. tax reform. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) was signed into law and became enacted for tax purposes. Substantially all of the provisions of the TCJA are effective for taxation years beginning after Dec. 31, 2017. The most significant change included in the TCJA with respect to Enbridge's 2017 financial statements was a reduction in the corporate federal income tax rate from 35 per cent to 21 per cent. This resulted in the company booking a $2-billion reduction to its deferred income tax provision for the year, which has been normalized for adjusted earnings purposes. The reduced tax rate will benefit the company's DCF once it becomes subject to U.S. current tax in the future.

While certain elements of the TCJA require clarification through more detailed regulation or interpretive guidance, Enbridge does not expect any material impact to consolidated DCF over the plan horizon.

U.S. tax reform impacts arising from commercial arrangements at the company's sponsored vehicles are not expected to be significant over the 2018-to-2020 plan horizon. The company estimates that EEP will realize a reduction in the income tax allowance component of its cost of service toll revenue of approximately $55-million (U.S.) per year. Enbridge Income Fund Holdings Inc. would expect to realize the offsetting gain to annual revenue due to the nature of the sharing of the international joint toll on the Mainline system. While SEP has a portion of its revenue derived from cost of service assets, any revenue loss associated with the change in tax rate is expected to be immaterial in the event of a future rate case where many other factors would be considered.

Conference call

Enbridge will host a joint conference call and webcast on Feb. 16, 2018, at 9 a.m. Eastern Time (7 a.m. Mountain Time) with Enbridge Income Fund, Enbridge Energy Partners and Spectra Energy Partners to provide an enterprise-wide business update and review 2017 fourth quarter and year-end financial results. Analysts, members of the media and other interested parties can access the call toll-free at 877-930-8043 or within and outside North America at 253-336-7522 using the access code of 4939158 followed by the number sign. The call will be audio webcast live. A webcast replay and podcast will be available approximately two hours after the conclusion of the event and a transcript will be posted to the website within 24 hours. The replay will be available for seven days after the call toll-free at 855-859-2056 or within and outside North America at 404-537-3406 (access code 4939158 followed by the number sign).

The conference call format will include prepared remarks from the executive team followed by a question-and-answer session for the analyst and investor community only. Enbridge's media and investor relations teams will be available after the call for any additional questions.

About Enbridge Inc.

Enbridge is North America's premier energy infrastructure company with strategic business platforms that include an extensive network of crude oil, liquids and natural gas pipelines, regulated natural gas distribution utilities, and renewable power generation.

Dividend declaration

The company's board of directors has declared the quarterly dividends as shown in the attached table. All dividends are payable on March 1, 2018, to shareholders of record on Feb. 15, 2018.

Common shares                               67.1 cents
Preference shares, Series A               34.375 cents
Preference shares, Series B                21.34 cents
Preference shares, Series C               20.342 cents
Preference shares, Series D                   25 cents
Preference shares, Series F                   25 cents
Preference shares, Series H                   25 cents
Preference shares, Series J           30.54 U.S. cents
Preference shares, Series L          30.993 U.S. cents
Preference shares, Series N                   25 cents
Preference shares, Series P                   25 cents
Preference shares, Series R                   25 cents
Preference shares, Series 1              25 U.S. cents
Preference shares, Series 3                   25 cents
Preference shares, Series 5            27.5 U.S. cents
Preference shares, Series 7                 27.5 cents
Preference shares, Series 9                 27.5 cents
Preference shares, Series 11                27.5 cents
Preference shares, Series 13                27.5 cents
Preference shares, Series 15                27.5 cents
Preference shares, Series 17              32.188 cents
Preference shares, Series 19               26.85 cents

We seek Safe Harbor.