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HOUSTON —Spectra Energy's beleaguered naturals gas liquids business and a weaker Canadian dollar dragged down what was otherwise strong end to 2015, the company reported Wednesday.

The Houston-based pipeline company said it generated $201 million in distributable cash flow an industry standard metric that approximates how much cash it has to pay out as dividends in the fourth quarter, down from $316 million in the same quarter of 2014. For the full year, cash generated was $1.27 billion, down from $1.46 billion in the prior year. That amount was enough to pay the company's declared distributions to investors 1.3 times over, down from the 1.6 times the company could have paid its dividends in 2014, the company reported.

The final score came in above the 1.2 times coverage target its CEO Greg Ebel set in early January, when Spectra Energy Corp said it would hike its dividend by an annual total of 14 cents to $1.62 per year. Both the hike and the extra dividend coverage are solid results at a time when many midstream companies are struggling to keep growing their dividend or are tight on extra cash.

But the company's strong performance was dampened by a nagging exposure to commodity prices and foreign currencies. In terms of net income, Spectra reported a fourth-quarter loss of $263 million, driven by a $333 million goodwill impairment charge following its 2002 acquisition of Canadian company Westcoast Energy and a $110 million charge related to its 50 percent stake in DCP Midstream. Denver-based DCP Midstream is a joint venture between Spectra Energy and Phillips 66.

Westcoast Energy today makes up a key component of Spectra's Canadian pipeline and processing business in British Columbia. The writedown comes after Spectra's wider Canadian business reported a pre-tax earnings of $123 million in the final quarter of 2015, compared with $250 million in the year before. Spectra said it had taken a full-year, $25 million charge to lay off employees and that its business had suffered due to the falling Canadian dollar.

DCP Midstream has been a persistent problem for both Spectra Energy and Phillips 66 for much of 2015. In the fourth quarter, Spectra said its 50 percent share of the business had lost $36 million c...