El paso electric announces third quarter
financial results
El paso, texas--(business wire)--el paso electric (nyse:ee): overview for the third quarter of 2015, el paso electric company ("ee" or the "company") reported net income of $56.7 million, or $1.40 basic and diluted earnings per share. in the third quarter of 2014, ee reported net income of $52.5 million, or $1.30 basic and diluted earnings per share. for the nine months ended september 30, 2015, ee reported net income of $81.3 million, or $2.01 basic and diluted earnings per share. net income for the nine months ended september 30, 2014 was $87.2 million, or $2.16 basic and diluted earnings per share. "our third quarter results are primarily the result of the hotter than normal summer weather our service territory experienced during the quarter ended september 30, 2015," said tom shockley, chief executive officer. "our retail kwh sales grew 7.0% over the third quarter of 2014, which set a record for kwh consumption for our service territory during any calendar quarter. further, we reached a new native system peak of 1,794 megawatts in august 2015. although these accomplishments were largely the result of hotter weather conditions, they illustrate that we operate in a vibrant and growing community and we look forward to continuing to meet the region's expanding energy needs with clean and reliable technology." earnings summary the table and explanations below present the major factors affecting 2015 net income relative to 2014 net income: regulatory lag the completion of montana power station ("mps") units 1 & 2 (including common plant, transmission lines and substation) and the eastside operations center ("eoc") are having a negative impact on the company's 2015 financial results relative to 2014 due to regulatory lag associated with the placement in service of these assets without a corresponding increase in revenues. the primary impact from these assets being placed in service include a reduction in amounts capitalized for allowance for funds used during construction ("afudc"), and increases in depreciation, operations and maintenance expense, property taxes and interest cost. third quarter 2015 income for the quarter ended september 30, 2015, when compared to the same period last year, was positively affected by: increased retail non-fuel base revenues, primarily due to increased revenues largely resulting from hotter weather experienced in the third quarter of 2015. most of this increase was generated from our residential and small commercial and industrial customers. kwh sales to residential and small commercial and industrial customers increased 11.9% and 3.4%, respectively, reflecting a 22.4% increase in cooling degree days for the third quarter compared to the same period in 2014. retail non-fuel base revenues increased $1.4 million from our large commercial and industrial customers and $1.3 million from sales to public authorities, compared to the same period in 2014. increased investment and interest income due to further diversification of the company’s palo verde decommissioning trust fund equity portfolio. income for the quarter ended september 30, 2015, when compared to the same period last year, was negatively affected by: decreased afudc due to lower balances of construction work in progress (“cwip”), primarily due to mps units 1 & 2 and the eoc being placed in service during the first quarter of 2015 and a reduction in the afudc accrual rate. increased interest on long-term debt due to the interest accrued on the $150 million senior notes issued in december 2014. increased depreciation and amortization related to an increase in depreciable plant, primarily due to mps units 1 & 2 and the eoc being placed in service during the first quarter of 2015. increased palo verde operations and maintenance expense. decreased deregulated palo verde unit 3 revenues, primarily due to a 20.3% decrease in proxy market prices reflecting a decline in the price of natural gas. increased transmission and distribution operation and maintenance expense primarily due to system support and improvements and preventive maintenance. increased operations and maintenance expense related to our fossil-fuel generating plants, primarily due to operations and maintenance expense at mps in 2015, with no comparable expense during the same period last year and an increased level of maintenance activity at the four corners plant. these increases were largely offset by decreased maintenance expense at the rio grande plant. year to date income for the nine months ended september 30, 2015, when compared to the same period last year, was positively affected by: increased retail non-fuel base revenues, primarily due to (i) increased revenues of $10.4 million from our residential customers due to hotter weather in the third quarter of 2015 contributing to a 5.6% increase in kwh sales; (ii) increased revenues of $1.9 million from small commercial and industrial customers due to a 1.5% increase in kwh sales resulting from hotter weather and a 1.8% increase in the average number of customers; and (iii) a $1.2 million increase from large commercial and industrial customers. these increases were partially offset by a $0.7 million decrease from sales to public authorities due to a military installation moving a portion of their load to an interruptible rate. increased investment and interest income due to further diversification of the company’s palo verde decommissioning trust fund equity portfolio. income for the nine months ended september 30, 2015, when compared to the same period last year, was negatively affected by: increased interest on long-term debt due to the interest accrued on the $150 million senior notes issued in december 2014. increased depreciation and amortization related to an increase in depreciable plant, primarily due to mps units 1 & 2 and the eoc being placed in service during the first quarter of 2015. decreased deregulated palo verde unit 3 revenues, primarily due to a 24.6% decrease in proxy market prices, reflecting a decline in the price of natural gas and a 12.5% decrease in generation due primarily to a unit 3 planned spring refueling outage that was completed in may 2015 with no comparable outage in 2014. increased operations and maintenance expense related to our fossil-fuel generating plants, primarily due to operations and maintenance expense at mps in 2015, with no comparable expense during the same period last year and an increased level of maintenance activity at the newman and four corners plants. these increases were partially offset by decreased maintenance expense at the rio grande plant. increased transmission and distribution operations and maintenance expense primarily due to (i) increased preventive maintenance; (ii) system support and improvements; and (iii) environmental expense. decreased amounts of afudc capitalized due to lower balances of construction work in process primarily due to mps units 1 & 2 and the eoc being placed in service during the first quarter of 2015 and a reduction in the afudc accrual rate. recognition of palo verde performance rewards associated with the 2009 to 2012 performance periods, net of disallowed fuel and purchased power costs related to the resolution of the texas fuel reconciliation proceeding designated as puct docket no. 41852 recorded in june 2014 with no comparable amount in the current period. retail non-fuel base revenues retail non-fuel base revenues increased $14.1 million, pre-tax, or 7.7% in the third quarter of 2015, compared to the same period in 2014. this increase includes a $9.5 million increase in revenues from residential customers and a $1.8 million increase in revenues from our small commercial and industrial customers reflecting hotter summer weather in the third quarter of 2015 when compared to 2014. retail non-fuel base revenues from large commercial and industrial customers increased $1.4 million. retail non-fuel revenues from sales to public authorities increased $1.3 million reflecting an 8.2% increase in kwh sales. cooling degree days increased 22.4% for the third quarter of 2015, compared to the same quarter last year, and were 15.9% above the 10-year average. non-fuel base revenues and kwh sales are provided by customer class on page 11 of this release. for the nine months ended september 30, 2015, retail non-fuel base revenues increased $12.9 million, or 2.9% compared to the same period in 2014. this increase includes a $10.4 million increase in revenues from residential customers and a $1.9 million increase in revenues from small commercial and industrial customers reflecting hotter summer weather and an increase of 1.3% and 1.8%, respectively, in the average number of customers. kwh sales to public authorities increased 1.6% while revenue declined by $0.7 million due to a military installation moving a portion of their load to an interruptible rate. retail non-fuel revenues from large commercial and industrial customers increased $1.2 million. cooling degree days increased 6.3% in 2015, when compared to the same period last year, and were 4.7% over the 10-year average. heating degree days increased 15.7% for the nine months of 2015, compared to the same period last year, and were 3.3% below the 10-year average. non-fuel base revenues and kwh sales are provided by customer class on page 13 of this release. capital and liquidity we continue to maintain a strong capital structure in which common stock equity represented 44.9% of our capitalization (common stock equity, long-term debt, current maturities of long-term debt, and short-term borrowings under the revolving credit facility). at september 30, 2015, we had a balance of $12.6 million in cash and cash equivalents. based on current projections, we believe that we will have adequate liquidity through our current cash balances, cash from operations, and available borrowings under our revolving credit facility ("rcf") to meet all of our anticipated cash requirements for the next 12 months. we may also issue long-term debt in the capital markets in early 2016 to finance capital requirements and reduce amounts outstanding on our rcf. at september 30, 2015, $85.0 million was outstanding under the rcf for working capital and general corporate purposes. cash flows from operations for the nine months ended september 30, 2015 were $176.4 million, compared to $174.6 million in the corresponding period in 2014. a component of cash flows from operations is the change in net over-collection and under-collection of fuel revenues. the difference between fuel revenues collected and fuel expense incurred is deferred to be either refunded (over-recoveries) or surcharged (under-recoveries) to customers in the future. during the nine months ended september 30, 2015, the company had a fuel over-recovery of $10.9 million compared to an under-recovery of fuel costs of $1.2 million during the nine months ended september 30, 2014. at september 30, 2015, we had a net fuel over-recovery balance of $1.6 million, including an under-recovery of $2.4 million in texas, and an over-recovery of $4.0 million in the new mexico and ferc jurisdictions. on april 15, 2015, we filed a request to lower our texas fixed fuel factor by approximately 24% to reflect a change in fuel costs primarily related to a reduction in natural gas prices. this decrease was effective with may 2015 billings. during the nine months ended september 30, 2015, our primary capital requirements were for the construction and purchase of electric utility plant, payment of common stock dividends, and purchases of nuclear fuel. capital requirements for new electric utility plant were $211.5 million for the nine months ended september 30, 2015 and $189.3 million for the nine months ended september 30, 2014. capital expenditures for 2015 are expected to be $278.7 million. capital requirements for purchases of nuclear fuel were $30.5 million for the nine months ended september 30, 2015, and $28.8 million for the nine months ended september 30, 2014. on september 30, 2015, we paid a quarterly cash dividend of $0.295 per share, or $11.9 million, to shareholders of record as of september 16, 2015. we paid a total of $35.1 million in cash dividends during the nine months ended september 30, 2015. at the current dividend rate, we expect to pay cash dividends of approximately $47.1 million during 2015. no shares of common stock were repurchased during the nine months ended september 30, 2015. as of september 30, 2015, a total of 393,816 shares remain available for repurchase under the currently authorized stock repurchase program. the company may repurchase shares in the open market from time to time. we maintain the rcf for working capital and general corporate purposes and financing of nuclear fuel through the rio grande resources trust (the "rgrt"). the rgrt, the trust through which we finance our portion of nuclear fuel for palo verde, is consolidated in the company's financial statements. the rcf has a term ending january 14, 2019. the aggregate unsecured borrowing available under the rcf is $300 million. we may increase the rcf by up to $100 million (up to a total of $400 million) during the term of the agreement, upon the satisfaction of certain conditions, more fully set forth in the agreement, including obtaining commitments from lenders or third party financial institutions. in august 2015, the rgrt $15.0 million series a 3.67% senior notes matured and were paid utilizing funds borrowed from the rcf. the total amount borrowed for nuclear fuel by the rgrt was $128.7 million at september 30, 2015, of which $33.7 million had been borrowed under the rcf, and $95.0 million was borrowed through senior notes. borrowings by the rgrt for nuclear fuel were $127.5 million as of september 30, 2014, of which $17.5 million had been borrowed under the rcf and $110.0 million was borrowed through senior notes. interest costs on borrowings to finance nuclear fuel are accumulated by the rgrt and charged to us as fuel is consumed and recovered through fuel recovery charges. at september 30, 2015, $85.0 million was outstanding under the rcf for working capital and general corporate purposes. at september 30, 2014, $72.0 million was outstanding under the rcf for working capital and general corporate purposes. we received approval from the new mexico public regulation commission on october 7, 2015, and from the federal energy regulatory commission ("ferc") on october 19, 2015, to issue up to $310 million in new long-term debt and to guarantee the issuance of up to $65 million of new debt by the rgrt to finance future purchases of nuclear fuel and to refinance existing nuclear fuel debt obligations. we also requested approval from the ferc to continue to utilize our existing rcf without change from the commission’s previously approved authorization. the ferc authorization is effective from november 15, 2015 through november 15, 2017. the approvals granted in these cases supersede prior approvals. 2015 earnings guidance we are adjusting and narrowing our earnings guidance for 2015 to a range of $1.95 to $2.10 per basic share from the previous range of $1.75 to $2.05. conference call a conference call to discuss third quarter 2015 financial results is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. eastern time, on november 4, 2015. the dial-in number is 888-461-2024 with a conference id number of 4633829. the international dial-in number is 719-325-2361. the conference leader will be lisa budtke, assistant treasurer. a replay will run through november 18, 2015 with a dial-in number of 888-203-1112 and a conference id number of 4633829. the replay international dial-in number is 719-457-0820. the conference call and presentation slides will be webcast live on the company's website found at http://www.epelectric.com. a replay of the webcast will be available shortly after the call. safe harbor this news release includes statements that may constitute forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the private securities litigation reform act of 1995. this information may involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements. factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: (i) increased prices for fuel and purchased power and the possibility that regulators may not permit ee to pass through all such increased costs to customers or to recover previously incurred fuel costs in rates; (ii) full and timely recovery of capital investments and operating costs through rates in texas and new mexico; (iii) uncertainties and instability in the general economy and the resulting impact on ee's sales and profitability; (iv) changes in customers' demand for electricity as a result of energy efficiency initiatives and emerging competing services and technologies; (v) unanticipated increased costs associated with scheduled and unscheduled outages of generating plant; (vi) the size of our construction program and our ability to complete construction on budget; (vii) potential delays in our construction schedule due to legal challenges or other reasons; (viii) costs at palo verde; (ix) deregulation and competition in the electric utility industry; (x) possible increased costs of compliance with environmental or other laws, regulations and policies; (xi) possible income tax and interest payments as a result of audit adjustments proposed by the irs or state taxing authorities; (xii) uncertainties and instability in the financial markets and the resulting impact on ee's ability to access the capital and credit markets; (xiii) possible physical or cyber attacks, intrusions or other catastrophic events; and (xiv) other factors detailed by ee in its public filings with the securities and exchange commission. ee's filings are available from the securities and exchange commission or may be obtained through ee's website, http://www.epelectric.com. any such forward-looking statement is qualified by reference to these risks and factors. ee cautions that these risks and factors are not exclusive. ee does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of ee except as required by law. weighted average number of shares and dilutive potential shares outstanding weighted average number of shares and dilutive potential shares outstanding kwh sales (in thousands): operating revenues (in thousands): average number of retail customers: (a) number of retail customers (end of period): (a) weather statistics: (b) generation and purchased power (kwh, in thousands): palo verde capacity factor 100.1 % 99.8 % 0.3 % kwh sales (in thousands): operating revenues (in thousands): includes a department of energy refund related to spent fuel storage of $5.8 million and $8.3 million, respectively. 2014 includes $2.2 million related to palo verde performance rewards, net. average number of retail customers: (a) number of retail customers (end of period): (a) weather statistics: (b) generation and purchased power (kwh, in thousands): palo verde capacity factor 96.7 % 96.4 % 0.3 %
