NW Natural Reports Results for the Quarter Ended March 31, 2016
(firmenpresse) - PORTLAND, OR -- (Marketwired) -- 05/03/16 -- Northwest Natural Gas Company, dba NW Natural (NYSE: NWN)
Consolidated earnings were $1.33 per share on net income of $36.6 million for the first quarter of 2016, compared to $1.04 per share and $28.5 million for 2015.
First quarter results included a regulatory disallowance for past environmental costs of $3.3 million pre-tax, or $0.07 per share after tax, in 2016 and $15.0 million pre-tax, or $0.33 per share after tax, in 2015.
Excluding these environmental charges(2), first quarter 2016 net income was $38.6 million or $1.40 per share, compared to $37.6 million or $1.37 per share for 2015.
Utility margin increased $6.1 million with the addition of over 10,000 utility customers during the past 12 months, reflecting an annual customer growth rate of 1.5% at March 31, 2016.
NW Natural collected $5 million of revenues through the environmental recovery mechanism from customers in 2016 and resolved implementation items for the mechanism with the Public Utility Commission of Oregon's (OPUC) January 2016 Order (2016 Order).
The North Mist gas storage expansion project continued moving forward toward a notice to proceed from the project customer later in 2016. In April, the Oregon Energy Facilities Siting Council approved NW Natural's application for an amendment to the Mist site certificate and NW Natural continued the rebidding process for the engineering procurement and construction (EPC) contract.
The Company reaffirmed earnings guidance for 2016, which is expected to range from $1.98 to $2.18 per share or $2.05 to $2.25 per share adjusted to exclude the effects of the pre-tax charge of $3.3 million, or $0.07 per share after-tax(1), related to the final environmental implementation order received in January 2016 as described below.
Northwest Natural Gas Company, dba NW Natural (NYSE: NWN), reported earnings per share of $1.33 on net income of $36.6 million for the first quarter of 2016, compared to $1.04 per share on net income of $28.5 million for 2015. Results for both quarters were affected by non-cash charges related to the Company's environmental regulatory proceeding, which was resolved in January 2016. The first quarter of 2016 included a $3.3 million pre-tax, or $0.07 per share after-tax disallowance, from the OPUC's 2016 Order, which related to the Company's compliance filing under the environmental mechanism. The first quarter of 2015 included a $15 million pre-tax charge or $0.33 per share after-tax disallowance from the February 2015 OPUC Order (2015 Order) in the environmental docket. As adjusted to exclude these charges(2), consolidated net income was $38.6 million, or $1.40 per share for the first quarter of 2016, compared to $1.37 per share on net income of $37.6 million for 2015.
"The core utility continued to post strong margins and customer growth," said Gregg Kantor, CEO. "In addition, during the year we accomplished two key objectives: the implementation of the environmental recovery mechanism including the collection of costs under the mechanism and obtained a critical permit for our North Mist gas storage expansion project."
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(1)Earnings per share (EPS) calculation based on average diluted shares outstanding of 27.6 million and an income tax rate of 39.5%.
(2) See reconciliation of non-GAAP measures in Consolidated Results section below.
For the quarter ended March 31, 2016, NW Natural earnings were $1.33 per share on net income of $36.6 million, compared to 2015 results of $1.04 per share on net income of $28.5 million. The increase was primarily due to the non-cash charges related to the environmental regulatory proceeding previously mentioned. Excluding these charges, net income increased by $1.1 million primarily from $6.1 million of higher utility margin attributable to customer growth and gains from gas cost sharing, offset by a $4.6 million decrease in other income related to the recognition of $5.3 million of equity earnings on deferred regulatory asset balances as a result of the 2015 Order in the first quarter of 2015.
The first quarter results are summarized in the table below:
For the first quarter ended March 31, 2016, utility operations contributed $1.30 per share on net income of $35.9 million, compared to $1.04 per share on net income of $28.3 million for 2015. The primary factors contributing to the $7.5 million or $0.26 per share increase in utility net income were as follows:
a $6.1 million increase in utility margin due to customer growth and an increase in gas cost incentive sharing gains;
a $14.7 million decrease in operations and maintenance expense due to the $15 million regulatory disallowance charge taken in the first quarter of 2015; and
a $7.8 million decrease in other income due to a $2.8 million interest write-off as a result of the 2016 Order and the recognition of $5.3 million of equity earnings on deferred regulatory asset balances in 2015 as a result of the 2015 Order previously mentioned.
NW Natural achieved a customer growth rate for the trailing 12-month period ended March 31, 2016 of 1.5%, with the Company serving over 718,000 customers at quarter end.
The following table presents key utility margin metrics:
The increase in deliveries for the first quarter of 2016 compared to 2015 was mainly due to higher residential and commercial volumes reflecting weather that was 7% colder than a year ago, although weather was 15% warmer than average, and the region experienced exceptionally warm weather during the quarter for the second year in a row. The impact of weather on utility margin is substantially mitigated by the Company's Weather Normalization Mechanism. Therefore despite the warm weather, utility margin increased $6.1 million primarily due to the following:
a $3.4 million increase from customer growth, additional loads from commercial customers on higher rate schedules, and increased rate-base from certain investments; and
a $2.4 million increase in gains from the gas cost incentive sharing mechanism as a result of lower gas prices than those estimated in the Purchased Gas Adjustment (PGA).
Under the environmental recovery mechanism, the Company has the ability to recover past deferred and future prudently incurred environmental remediation costs allocable to Oregon, subject to an earnings test. As part of the implementation of the mechanism, the OPUC issued the 2015 Order requiring NW Natural to forego collection of $15 million of approximately $95 million in total environmental remediation expenses deferred through 2012. As a result, the Company recognized a non-cash $9.1 million after-tax charge in operations and maintenance expense in the first quarter of 2015. Also, as a result of the 2015 Order, the Company recognized $5.3 million pre-tax of interest income related to the equity earnings on deferred environmental expenses.
During 2015, the Company continued to work with the OPUC on a number of outstanding implementation items related to the mechanism, and in January 2016 the OPUC issued the 2016 Order resolving the open matters in the docket. The 2016 Order confirmed recovery of environmental costs allocable to Oregon under the mechanism, established an Oregon allocation factor of 96.68%, and disallowed deferred costs related to the previous charge of $15 million. As a result of the 2016 Order, the Company recognized a non-cash $3.3 million pre-tax charge, or $2.0 million after-tax, of which the majority is reflected in other income and expense.
For the quarter ended March 31, 2016, the Company's gas storage segment reported net income of $0.7 million or $0.03 per share, compared to net income of $0.1 million for 2015. The first quarter of 2016 results reflected stable storage segment revenues as well as lower operating costs and interest expense at the Gill Ranch facility.
Consolidated operations and maintenance expense for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 was $38.9 million, compared to $54.1 million for 2015. The $15.2 million decrease was primarily due to the $15 million pre-tax charge associated with the 2015 Order on the recovery of past environmental cost deferrals taken during the first quarter of 2015.
Other expense was $2.3 million for the first quarter of 2016, compared to other income of $5.1 million for the same period in 2015. The $7.4 million year-over-year decrease was primarily due to the recognition of $5.3 million of equity earnings from deferred environmental expenses in the first quarter of 2015. The Company recognized the equity earnings of these deferred regulatory asset balances as a result of the 2015 Order. In addition, the 2016 Order resulted in a write-off of $2.8 million of interest in the current quarter.
Cash provided by operations was $146.1 million for the first quarter of 2016, compared to $118.2 million for 2015. The main factors contributing to the $27.9 million increase were an increase in net income of $8.2 million; an increase of $17.4 million in net deferred tax liabilities from the enactment of bonus depreciation; and $5.0 million from collections under the environmental recovery mechanism.
The Company reaffirmed earnings guidance today in the range of $1.98 to $2.18 per share or $2.05 to $2.25 per share adjusted to exclude the effects of the pre-tax charge of $3.3 million or $0.07 per share after-tax(1), related to the 2016 Order. The Company's 2016 earnings guidance assumes customer growth from the utility segment, average weather conditions, sustainable operations and maintenance expense levels and normal inflationary increases, slow recovery of the gas storage market, the impact of the five-year extension of bonus depreciation resulting from the enactment of the Federal Protecting Americans From Tax Hikes Act of 2016, and no significant changes in prevailing legislative and regulatory policies, mechanisms, or outcomes.
(1)EPS calculation based on average diluted shares outstanding of 27.6 million and an income tax rate of 39.5%.
The board of directors of NW Natural declared a quarterly dividend of 46.75 cents per share on the Company's common stock. The dividends will be paid on May 13, 2016 to shareholders of record on April 29, 2016. The Company's indicated annual dividend rate is $1.87 per share.
In addition to presenting the results of operations and earnings amounts in total, certain financial measures are expressed in cents per share or exclude the after-tax regulatory charges related to the Orders implementing the SRRM in 2015 and 2016, which are non-GAAP financial measures. The Company presents net income and EPS excluding the regulatory disallowance along with the GAAP measures to illustrate the magnitude of this disallowance on ongoing business and operational results. Although the excluded amounts are properly included in the determination of these items under GAAP, the Company believes the amount and nature of such disallowance make period to period comparisons of operations difficult or potentially confusing. Financial measures are expressed in cents per share as these amounts reflect factors that directly impact earnings, including income taxes. All references in this section to EPS are on the basis of diluted shares. The Company uses such non-GAAP financial measures to analyze its financial performance because it believes they provide useful information to its investors and creditors in evaluating its financial condition and results of operations.
As previously reported, NW Natural will conduct a conference call and webcast starting at 8 a.m. Pacific Time (11 a.m. Eastern Time) on May 3, 2016 to review the Company's financial and operating results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2016.
To hear the conference call live, please dial 1-866-267-6789 within the United States and 1-855-669-9657 from Canada. International callers can dial 1-412-902-4110. To access the conference replay, please call 1-877-344-7529 and enter the conference identification pass code 10083970. To hear the replay from Canada, please dial 1-855-669-9658 and from international locations, please dial 1-412-317-0088.
To hear the conference by webcast, log on to NW Natural's corporate website at nwnatural.com.
This report, and other presentations made by NW Natural from time to time, may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as "anticipates," "assumes," "intends," "plans," "seeks," "believes," "estimates," "expects" and similar references to future periods. Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the following: plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events, investments, customer growth, weather and its impacts, environmental remediation cost recoveries, levels and pricing of gas storage contracts, gas storage development or costs or timing related thereto, financial positions, operation and maintenance expense, capital expenditures, free cash flow levels, revenues and earnings and the timing thereof, dividends, effects of regulatory disallowance, performance, timing or effects of future regulatory proceedings or future regulatory approvals, regulatory prudence reviews, effects of regulatory mechanisms, including, but not limited to, SRRM, and other statements that are other than statements of historical facts.
Forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current expectations and assumptions regarding its business, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. The Company's actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. The Company cautions you therefore against relying on any of these forward-looking statements. They are neither statements of historical fact nor guarantees or assurances of future operational or financial performance. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are discussed by reference to the factors described in Part I, Item 1A "Risk Factors", and Part II, Item 7 and Item 7A "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and "Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosure about Market Risk" in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and in Part I, Items 2 and 3 "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and "Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk", and Part II, Item 1A, "Risk Factors", in the Company's quarterly reports filed thereafter.
All forward-looking statements made in this report and all subsequent forward-looking statements, whether written or oral and whether made by or on behalf of the Company, are expressly qualified by these cautionary statements. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which such statement is made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law. New factors emerge from time to time and it is not possible for the Company to predict all such factors, nor can it assess the impact of each such factor or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements.
NW Natural (NYSE: NWN) is headquartered in Portland, Ore., and provides natural gas service to more than 718,000 residential, commercial, and industrial customers through approximately 14,000 miles of mains and service lines in western Oregon and southwestern Washington. It is the largest independent natural gas utility in the Pacific Northwest with $3.0 billion in total assets. NW Natural and its subsidiaries currently own and operate underground gas storage facilities with storage capacity of approximately 31 Bcf in Oregon and California. Additional information is available at nwnatural.com.
Nikki Sparley
Phone: 503-721-2530
Email:
Melissa Moore
Phone: 503-220-2436
Email:
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Datum: 03.05.2016 - 10:00 Uhr
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