Aqua America Reports First Quarter 2014 Earnings
Income from continuing operations per share beats expectations
The Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend payment of
Operations and maintenance expenses, increased 5.7 percent (GAAP
financial measure) for the first quarter, compared to the first quarter
of 2013. The additional maintenance, snow removal, and other
weather-related expenses accounted for 3.3 percent or
As part of Aqua America's growth-through-acquisition strategy, the
company has announced five acquisitions to date in 2014. The company's
Earlier today the company's
In the first quarter of 2014, the company invested
Aqua customers are benefiting from the increased reliability of service
they are experiencing as a result of our infrastructure investment
program. Aqua
Thus far in 2014, the company has received rate awards or infrastructure
surcharges in all of its remaining states with an expected annualized
revenue increase of approximately
In March, the company announced that its
The company's conference call with financial analysts will take place on
This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, among
others: the company's ability to remain an industry leader in
operational efficiency, the continuation of the company's
growth-through-acquisition program; the company's provide reliable
service at a reasonable cost, the continuation of the company's capital
investment program; the estimated amount of capital investment by the
company planned for 2014 and the next 3 years, and the projected impact
of such investments; the expected use of capital including pipe
replacement, distribution network improvements, plant upgrades and
service reliability improvements; the eligibility of the aforementioned
capital investments for tax deductions under the repair tax accounting
change; future cost controls; Aqua Pennsylvania's continued benefits
from the flow-through repair tax accounting method; the likeliness of
the company to stay out of rates in 2014; the estimated revenues from
rate awards received; the company's plans to file future rate increases
and the timing of the impact of such cases; the savings to customers for
refinancing debt; the company's ability to continue to deliver strong
results; the company's ability to fund needed infrastructure due to its
strong financial position; and the company's continuation of investments
in strategic ventures which provide a return on investment and economies
of scale. There are important factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements including: general economic business
conditions; housing and customer growth trends; unfavorable weather
conditions; the success of certain cost containment initiatives; the
extent to which rate increase requests are granted and the timing of
rate awards; changes in regulations or regulatory treatment;
availability and access to capital; the cost of capital; disruptions in
the credit markets; the success of growth initiatives; the company's
ability to remain an industry leader in operational efficiency, the
continuation of the company's growth-through-acquisition program; the
company's ability to provide reliable service at a reasonable cost; and
other factors discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K, which is on
file with the
WTRF
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| Selected Operating Data | ||||||
| (In thousands, except per share amounts) | ||||||
| (Unaudited) | ||||||
| Quarter Ended | ||||||
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2014 |
2013 |
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| Operating revenues | $ | 182,672 | $ | 178,552 | ||
| Income from continuing operations | $ | 42,401 | $ | 40,864 | ||
| Net income attributable to common shareholders | $ | 42,859 | $ | 46,565 | ||
| Basic income from continuing operations per common share | $ | 0.24 | $ | 0.23 | ||
| Diluted income from continuing operations per common share | $ | 0.24 | $ | 0.23 | ||
| Basic net income per common share | $ | 0.24 | $ | 0.27 | ||
| Diluted net income per common share | $ | 0.24 | $ | 0.26 | ||
| Basic average common shares outstanding | 176,839 | 175,415 | ||||
| Diluted average common shares outstanding | 177,810 | 176,499 | ||||
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| Consolidated Statement of Income | ||||
| (In thousands, except per share amounts) | ||||
| (Unaudited) | ||||
| Quarter Ended | ||||
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2014 |
2013 |
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| Operating revenues |
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| Cost & expenses: | ||||
| Operations and maintenance | 71,686 | 67,794 | ||
| Depreciation | 30,981 | 29,045 | ||
| Amortization | 1,133 | 1,377 | ||
| Taxes other than income taxes | 12,102 | 13,398 | ||
| Total | 115,902 | 111,614 | ||
| Operating income | 66,770 | 66,938 | ||
| Other expense (income): | ||||
| Interest expense, net | 19,310 | 19,275 | ||
| Allowance for funds used during construction | (1,167) | (552) | ||
| Loss (gain) on sale of other assets | 348 | (92) | ||
| Equity loss in joint venture | 686 | 656 | ||
| Income from continuing operations before income taxes | 47,593 | 47,651 | ||
| Provision for income taxes | 5,192 | 6,787 | ||
| Income from continuing operations | 42,401 | 40,864 | ||
| Discontinued operations: | ||||
| Income from discontinued operations before income taxes | 772 | 8,925 | ||
| Provision for income taxes | 314 | 3,224 | ||
| Income from discontinued operations | 458 | 5,701 | ||
| Net income attributable to common shareholders |
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| Income from continuing operations per share: | ||||
| Basic |
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| Diluted |
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| Income from discontinued operations per share: | ||||
| Basic |
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| Diluted |
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| Net income per common share: | ||||
| Basic |
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| Diluted |
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| Average common shares outstanding: | ||||
| Basic | 176,839 | 175,415 | ||
| Diluted | 177,810 | 176,499 | ||
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| Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets | ||||||
| (In thousands of dollars) | ||||||
| (Unaudited) | ||||||
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2014 |
2013 |
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| Net property, plant and equipment | $ | 4,159,455 | $ | 4,136,389 | ||
| Current assets | 213,630 | 203,033 | ||||
| Regulatory assets and other assets | 726,682 | 712,395 | ||||
| $ | 5,099,767 | $ | 5,051,817 | |||
| Total equity | $ | 1,554,234 | $ | 1,535,043 | ||
| Long-term debt, excluding current portion | 1,498,040 | 1,468,583 | ||||
| Current portion of long-term debt and loans payable | 125,702 | 123,028 | ||||
| Other current liabilities | 125,540 | 156,851 | ||||
| Deferred credits and other liabilities | 1,796,251 | 1,768,312 | ||||
| $ | 5,099,767 | $ | 5,051,817 | |||
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| Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP financial measure | |||||||||
| (in thousands of dollars) | |||||||||
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(GAAP refers to accounting principles generally accepted in |
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| Quarter Ended | |||||||||
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Percentage | ||||||||
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2014 |
2013 |
Increase |
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| Operations and maintenance expense (GAAP financial measure) | $ | 71,686 | $ | 67,794 | 5.7 | % | |||
| Less: Adjustment for additional maintenance expenses associated with the severe winter weather conditions in first quarter of 2014 | 2,216 | - | |||||||
| Less: Adjustment for same-utility system operations and maintenance expense | 292 | - | |||||||
| Adjusted operations and maintenance expense (Non-GAAP financial measure) | $ | 69,178 | $ | 67,794 | 2.0 | % | |||
Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP financial measures - The Company is providing disclosure of the reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most comparable GAAP financial measures. The Company believes that the non-GAAP financial measures provide investors the ability to measure the Company's financial operating performance by adjustment, which is more indicative of the Company's ongoing performance and is more comparable to measures reported by other companies. The Company further believes that the presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures is useful to investors as a more meaningful way to compare the Company's operating performance against its historical financial results.
Operations and maintenance expense is adjusted for two items: additional maintenance expenses associated with the severe winter weather conditions in the first quarter of 2014, and an adjustment for same-utility system basis operations and maintenance expense. Information referring to "same-utility system basis" excludes the operations and maintenance expense of utility systems acquired which would impact the comparability of the current reporting period to the same reporting period one year ago.
These financial measures are measures of the Company's operating
performance that do not comply with U.S. generally accepted accounting
principles (GAAP), and are thus considered to be "non-GAAP financial
measures" under applicable
Director, Investor
Relations
O: 610-645-1191
BJDingerdissen@AquaAmerica.com
or
Manager, Communications
O: 610-645-1095
M:
484-368-4720
DPAlston@AquaAmerica.com
Source:
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