Atmos Energy Q3 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

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August 3, 2022

There are 5 speakers on the call.

Operator

Greetings, and welcome to Atmos Energy's Third Quarter 2022 Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Dan Mazier, Vice President of Investor Relations and Treasurer.

Operator

Please go ahead.

Speaker 1

Thank you, Brock. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining our fiscal 2022 Q3 earnings call. With me today are Kevin Akers, President and Chief Executive Officer and Chris Forsythe, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Our earnings release and conference call slide presentation, which we will reference in our prepared remarks, are available at atmosenergy.com under the Investor Relations tab. As we review these financial results and discuss future expectations, please keep in mind that some of our discussion might contain forward looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Act and the Securities Exchange Act.

Speaker 1

Our forward looking statements and projections could differ materially from actual results. The factors that could cause such material differences are outlined on Slide 33 and are more fully described in our SEC filings. With that, I will turn the call over to Chris Forsyth, our Senior VP and CFO. Chris? Thanks, Dan, and good morning, everyone.

Speaker 1

We Appreciate you joining us and your interest in Atmos Energy. Fiscal 'twenty two third quarter net income increased $129,000,000 or $0.92 per diluted share of $102,000,000 or $0.78 per diluted share in the prior year quarter. And fiscal year to date net income was $703,000,000 or $5.12 per diluted share compared with net income of $617,000,000 or $4.77 per diluted share in the prior period. Slides 56 provide operating income highlights for each of our segments for the 3 9 months ended June 30. I will focus on to some of the more significant drivers underlying our fiscal year to date performance.

Speaker 1

Rate increases in both of our operating segments totaled $172,000,000 primarily driven by increased safety and reliability spending and system expansion. Approximately 71% of these rate adjustments were recognized in our distribution segment. We continue to see robust customer growth in our Distribution segment, which increased operating income by an additional $13,000,000 This growth offset a $13,000,000 decrease in consumption, most of which occurred during the second fiscal quarter. We did not see the same trend continuing to the 3rd quarter as consumption increased by about $3,000,000 quarter over quarter. Additionally, we experienced a $25,000,000 increase in consolidated O and M expense, primarily driven by increased pipeline maintenance activities and employee related costs compared with the prior year, partially offset by lower bad debt expense.

Speaker 1

Finally, reductions in fiscal 'twenty two revenue associated with the refund of excess deferred tax liabilities reduced operating income by $103,000,000 This reduction was substantially offset by lower income tax expense. Consolidated capital spending increased 27% for $368,000,000 to $1,700,000,000 with 87% dedicated to improving the safety and reliability of our system. This increase primarily reflects increased system modernization, system integrity and system extension spending to meet the growing natural gas demand in our service territories. Remain on track to spend $2,400,000,000 to $2,500,000,000 in capital expenditures this fiscal year. On the regulatory front, We have completed approximately $260,000,000 in annualized regulatory outcomes, excluding refunds of excess deferred tax liabilities.

Speaker 1

At this amount, we have implemented $202,000,000 and we will implement the remainder on September 1. Additionally, we have about $127,000,000 in progress. Slides 15 through 32 provide additional detail around our regulatory activities. Our fiscal Q3 financing activities were focused on pricing to fiscal 'twenty three equity needs. During the quarter, we executed 4 sales agreements under our ATM program for approximately 2,900,000 shares to $337,000,000 and we settled agreements on 731,000 shares for approximately $81,000,000 in net proceeds.

Speaker 1

As of June 30, we have approximately $700,000,000 in net proceeds available under existing forward sale agreements, which satisfy substantially all of our anticipated equity needs through fiscal 'twenty three. We finished the 3rd quarter with an equity capitalization of 61.7 percent, excluding the $2,200,000,000 interim winter storm financing and with total liquidity of approximately $3,500,000,000 Additional details of our financing activities, including our equity forward arrangement as well as our financial profile on slides 8 through 11. Turning now to securitization. During the Q3, we continued to make progress on that front. In Texas, the Texas public financing authority continues its work on the statewide securitization program, and we believe it is on track to be completed within the next few months.

Speaker 1

As a reminder, Once we receive the securitization funds, we will fully retire the $2,200,000,000 in interim winter storm financing. In Kansas, during the Q3, We filed our application for a financing order. Based on the approved procedural schedule, we anticipate receiving the financing order during our fiscal 'twenty three Q1. In closing, our fiscal year to date performance was in line with our expectations and supports the reaffirmation of our fiscal 'twenty two earnings per share guidance in range of $5.50 to $5.60 per diluted share. Slides 13 and 14 provide additional details around our guidance.

Speaker 2

Morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. The fiscal year to date results Chris just shared reflect the continued focus on our vision of being the safest provider of natural gas services. And supporting that vision are our 4,700 dedicated employees executing our safety and reliability investment strategy and our prudent regulatory and financing strategy. These strategies, combined with a strong portfolio of assets, will continue to support our ability to grow earnings per share and dividends 6% to 8% annually through fiscal 2026. We continue to see robust growth in demand for natural gas in our service territories.

Speaker 2

During the 12 month period ended June 30, and during the Q3 of this year, we added 13 new industrial customers that have an expected annual natural gas usage of to 5 Bcf when they are fully operational. Fiscal year to date, we have added 28 new industrial customers that have an expected annual natural gas usage of 10 Bcf when they are fully operational. As you heard me say before, on a volumetric basis, that 10 Bcf of annual industrial customer usage is equivalent to adding 170 1,000 residential customers. Last month, we released our most recent corporate responsibility and sustainability report, which illustrates our environmental, social and governance strategy focused on reducing our scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions and environmental impact from operations in the 5 key areas of operations, fleet, facilities, gas supply and customers. The report also summarizes the commitments as well as the progress made towards executing that strategy during fiscal 2021 early fiscal 2022.

Speaker 2

I wanted to comment on one of the exciting highlights in the corporate responsibility report, That is our 0 net energy home initiative. By partnering with local Habitat for Humanity organizations in each of our 8 states, We are providing families with 0 net energy homes that use high efficiency natural gas appliances, rooftop solar panels and installation to produce more energy than they consume over the course of the year, all in a cost effective manner. Again as you've heard us mention before, we've completed our 1st Zero and Energy home in Evans, Colorado in September of 2021. And during the Q3 of this year, we completed a second 0 net energy home in Taylor, Texas, located just north of Boston. Construction is underway on 3 additional 0 net energy homes in Dallas, 1 in Jackson, Mississippi, calendar year for an additional 5 0 net energy homes, 1 in Dublin, Virginia 1 in Columbia, Tennessee and 3 in Lubbock, Texas.

Speaker 2

These homes provide families with a comfortable natural gas home that demonstrates the value and vital role natural gas plays in helping customers reduce their carbon footprint in a cost effective manner. Our fiscal year performance and participation in community projects such as these as our 0 net energy homes reflect the commitment, dedication, focus and effort of our 4,700 Atmos Energy employees as they see a vital role in our 1400 communities by safely delivering reliable, efficient and abundant natural gas to homes,

Operator

Our first question today is from Julien Dumoulin Smith of Bank of America. Please proceed with your question.

Speaker 3

Hey, good morning, Kevin and Chris. This is Cody Clark. Good morning.

Speaker 1

Good morning.

Speaker 2

So first, wondering if you can walk

Speaker 3

expectations on O and M and interest. I guess I'm just trying to get a better understanding of your expectations within that $5.50 to $5.60 range.

Speaker 1

So, Cody, you've been muted there a little bit. But if I'm understanding correctly, you're looking for the main drivers for the remainder of the fiscal year to Yes. I think you've touched on a couple of them. The main drivers, again, on the O and M front, we have some compliance work that we've done, some additional system integrity work. The timing may shift between September or October just based on when the work is performed.

Speaker 1

We're also monitoring Our bad debt expense levels, this is our big collection season. And although the bad debt expense is down year over year, typically the 4th quarter Our 4th fiscal quarter is a time where we have increased collection activities, so we're kind of monitoring that as well. And then finally, on the interest expense front. We do have the floating rate note as a component of the interim winter storm financing and rates have increased somewhat Over the last fiscal year, which is driving our interest expense a little bit higher and that could potentially tick up once the rates reset later here in the 4th fiscal quarter. So those are some of the things that we're monitoring in terms of the guidance range.

Speaker 1

I would say at this point, Where we ended the fiscal quarter or on a year to date basis, we were in line with our expectations and we stand behind the guidance that we put out today.

Speaker 3

Understood. Okay. Thanks for that. And as we look toward FY 'twenty three, curious if you can opine on how you see inflation through your O and M budget and capital plan, what sort of trends are you expecting into next year and any mitigating measures that you're thinking about?

Speaker 2

Yes, Cody, I'll start off and then Chris can jump in there. As we've talked about before, A lot of our contracts that we have in place have been refreshed recently with our contractors and our vendors. A lot of our large projects we do, whether they're on the mid tech side or the APT side, are bid projects there. We feel good We think those are all in good standing. And on the procurement front, we, as we talked about before, try to run well ahead to make sure we have enough inventory on hand to complete and stay ahead of our compliance and pipeline replacement work.

Speaker 2

Our team tries to keep about a 6 month inventory on hand and may even be looking to push that out towards the 9 month level. We have all the pipe either in the ground or on the ground to complete our 2022 projects. We have the pipe in the works right now for 'twenty three and are looking for material out into the 'twenty four period. So as you can see, we're taking advantage when we can to make sure we've got the best pricing, that our materials are available, and we can continue to move forward at the best and most efficient manner.

Speaker 1

Yes. And Kevin, I'll add to that. I mean, you're spot on with the just the keeping up annually with the increases on the O and M front, but I'll also comment on the treasury side as well. I mean, our team has done an excellent job of trying to get ahead of rising interest rates, with the exception of the interim Windstorm financing, which we will take out once The securitization funds are received that we have no floating rate debt. We have executed nearly $2,000,000,000 in for starting interest rate swaps on future planned debt issuances beyond fiscal 2022 at very attractive rates.

Speaker 1

We've done that here over the last year or so and we're really well positioned. And you look at our overall weighted average cost I guess the most current one that's out there right now is about $500,000,000 due in 2027. So from a balance sheet and financing perspective, we also have taken advantage of over the last year or so of trying to lock in some of the lower rates for the benefit of the customers, which also helps mitigate the impact on the customer bill.

Speaker 2

Yes, Cody, just to finish that off, and again, some of the same things, tools that we had in our toolkit, if you will, As we were entering and coming through the pandemic are still there for us. We haven't started back a lot of travel. We're going to The most sense of urgency meetings, those sort of things, still taking advantage of Teams. So everything that we had in our toolkit during the pandemic, we continue to have today as well as I'll just again mention our ability to move projects forward and buy it because we are not a just in and compliance company. We try and run ahead of that, so that gives us some flexibility as well.

Speaker 3

Excellent. That's very helpful. I'll pass it off there. Thanks again for the time.

Speaker 1

Thank you, Cody.

Operator

The next question is from Insoo Kim of Goldman Sachs. Please proceed with your question.

Speaker 4

Yes, thank you. First question, Kevin, you were talking about the industrial customers and the additions this quarter and for the year. 1st, can you just give a little bit more color on the mix of the types of the industrial customers? And from a pace perspective of these additions, is this a little bit faster than what you had Just trying to get a sense of which industries are you're seeing most growth and what type of potential capital opportunities may exist in the future for you guys.

Speaker 2

Yes, sure. Just before we get into that, Again, our service, Tori, is extremely blessed. We have exceptional leadership at the city, the state level there, great chambers of Commerce, great economic development partners in each of our states. And so we have a well diversified industrial footprint out there. For example, In a couple of our divisions, we've seen the addition of hydroponic greenhouse facilities, which are large consumers of natural gas.

Speaker 2

We've seen the location of the distilling industry, both new facilities and expansion of distilling facilities out there. We've seen a EV battery manufacturing plant locate on our facilities. We've seen concrete and asphalt facilities, expansions of colleges and universities, so as well as some metals, aluminum, steel, smaller plants and expansions of some existing ones as well. So as you can see there, it's a variety of everything across the board there, which is good for our local economy. And the thing that comes along with these expansions or new additions, as you know, is the jobs, the amount of jobs that this support brings in the community, which means rooftops and commercial load as well.

Speaker 4

Got it. That's definitely good color. Second one, the Inflation Reduction Act, obviously, for the electric industry, a lot of initial thoughts there. Just for you, as it relates to that bill, just curious on your overall thoughts on what potential opportunities or challenges could exist. For example, I'm thinking of the RNG side.

Speaker 4

Obviously, you're now on the upstream side of things, but how does That if it takes place, how does that change your thinking there? And then just from a curious on a methane tax perspective, does that impact your pipeline business at all?

Speaker 2

Okay. Yes, there's a lot packed into that question. So let me first start with, We're still reviewing, going through all the detail that's laid out in the bill. And as you know, the bill still got a long way to go through

Speaker 1

the legislative process and could be

Speaker 2

altered one way or the close to the details to see what potential upside exists for us out there. However, I will say it is Good to see Senator Manchin's comments that this bill is not arbitrarily shut off abundant fossil fuels, I think is his quote. Then in a recent article I saw sometime from last year, Senator Manchin indicated that natural gas must be included in any Clean Energy Program. So for me, it's good to see and hear that because it's going to take all forms of energy, right? A diversified energy portfolio as we've been seeing for a long time, including natural gas, our nearly 3,000,000 miles of pipeline infrastructure and our underground storage fields, which we have about 120 Bcf here at Atmos Energy.

Speaker 2

All that's going to be required to meet the growing demand going forward. And Again, it's good to see that realization, the conversation at that level being taken place, because a one size energy solution, I don't think provides the security, reliability and affordability that this country needs to meet the growing energy demand that's out there. So we look forward to continuing to see how the bill evolves. We think we are a good operator, a prudent operator. As you've seen through our pipeline replacement projects, we've tightened up our system.

Speaker 2

We've got a good environmental strategy out there. So I think we can operate in this legislation, but we're going to continue to monitor and see what the details show as this thing moves forward.

Speaker 4

Got it. Thank you so much.

Operator

There are no additional questions at this time. I'd like to turn the call back to Dan Mazir for closing remarks.

Speaker 1

We appreciate your interest in Atmos Energy, and thank you again for joining us. A recording of this call is available for replay on our website through September 30. Have a great day.

Operator

This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

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