The Financial Post reports in its Friday edition TransCanada's second-quarter profit rose 14 per cent on gains from the sale of a unit. A Reuters dispatch to the Post said net income totalled $416-million, or 52 cents a share, in the quarter, which was up from $365-million, or 52 cents, in the same quarter of 2013. The rise came as the company recorded a $99-million gain on the sale of its carbon black business. That was partially offset by a $31-million charge for changes to a natural gas storage contract. Comparable earnings, which exclude most one-time items, fell 7 per cent to $332-million from $357-million. The result missed analysts' average forecast for the measure of 49 cents, according to Thomson Reuters. TransCanada is best known for its $5.4-billion Keystone XL oil pipeline, which has been awaiting U.S. government approvals for more than five years amid bitter opposition from environmental groups. The company runs natural gas pipelines in Canada, the United States and Mexico and owns a big share of the Bruce nuclear plant in Ontario. "Weak Alberta power prices and maintenance outages at Bruce Power weighed on second-quarter results," chief executive officer Russ Girling said in a statement.