El paso electric announces first quarter financial results
El paso, texas--(business wire)--el paso electric company (nyse:ee): overview for the first quarter of 2015, el paso electric company ("ee" or the "company") reported net income of $3.5 million, or $0.09 basic and diluted earnings per share. in the first quarter of 2014, ee reported net income of $4.6 million, or $0.11 basic and diluted earnings per share. “we had a productive first quarter as seen in our financial results, the increase in the number of customers served, and the completion and commercial operation of the first two generating units at the montana power station,” said tom shockley, chief executive officer. “we have begun construction on units 3 and 4 at the montana power station and these units are scheduled to be completed in 2016. montana power station will serve our customers with dependable, cost-effective technologies that will help foster the region's overall growth and modernization. we now begin the process of requesting rate recovery for the significant construction costs we have incurred. we continue to be excited about our community's growth and as we strive for a modern 21st century utility we are dedicated to future advancements and environmental resiliency in order to meet the region's expanding energy needs.” earnings summary the table and explanations below present the major factors affecting 2015 net income relative to 2014 net income: effect net income first quarter 2015 income for the quarter ended march 31, 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. decreased miscellaneous income due to the gain on the sale of land in first quarter of 2014 with no comparable activity in the current quarter. decreased deregulated palo verde unit 3 revenues, primarily due to a 35% decrease in proxy market power prices reflecting a decline in the price of natural gas. increased depreciation and amortization due to an increase in depreciable plant. income for the quarter ended march 31, 2015, when compared to the same period last year, was positively affected by: increased allowance for funds used during construction ("afudc") due to a higher average balance of construction work in progress. decreased taxes other than income taxes, primarily due to an adjustment for arizona property tax during the first quarter of 2014, with no comparable adjustment in the current period. increased retail non-fuel base revenues, primarily due to increased revenues from our residential customers, reflecting colder winter weather in 2015 compared to mild winter weather in 2014 and an increase in the average number of customers served. retail non-fuel base revenues retail non-fuel base revenues increased $0.7 million, pre-tax, or 0.7% in the first quarter of 2015 compared to the same period in 2014. this increase reflects a $1.3 million increase from sales to residential customers. kwh sales to residential customers increased by 3.4% reflecting colder winter weather in 2015 compared to mild winter weather in 2014 and a 1.3% increase in the average number of residential customers served. heating degree days increased 20.4% for the first quarter of 2015, compared to the same quarter last year, but was 2.3% below the 10-year average. the increase in retail non-fuel base revenues was partially offset by a decrease of $0.4 million from sales to public authorities. retail non-fuel base revenues to small commercial and industrial customers and large commercial and industrial customers decreased 0.5% and 0.9% in the first quarter of 2015, compared to the same quarter in 2014. non-fuel base revenues and kwh sales are provided by customer class on page 8 of this release. commercial operation of montana power station units 1 and 2 on march 19 and 20, 2015, the company placed into commercial operation the first two generating units at the montana power station ("mps") and the related common facilities and transmission systems at a cost of approximately $222.7 million. the two state-of-the-art 88-mw simple cycle aero-derivative combustion turbines are powered by natural gas and have quick start capabilities which allow the units to go from off-line to full output in less than 10 minutes, thus increasing overall power grid stability, and work in concert with our renewable energy sources. these two units will generate enough energy to power more than 80,000 homes. capital and liquidity we continue to maintain a strong capital structure in which common stock equity represented 44.7% 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 march 31, 2015, we had a balance of $8.0 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 the rcf to meet all of our anticipated cash requirements for the next 12 months including the $15 million maturity of our series a 3.67% senior notes (due august 2015). we may also issue long-term debt in the capital markets to finance capital requirements in late 2015 or early 2016. cash flows from operations for the three months ended march 31, 2015 were $26.5 million compared to $31.3 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 three months ended march 31, 2015, the company had a fuel over-recovery of $15.7 million compared to an over-recovery of fuel costs of $2.0 million during the three months ended march 31, 2014. at march 31, 2015, we had a net fuel over-recovery balance of $6.4 million, including $3.6 million in texas, $2.7 million in new mexico, and $0.1 million for our ferc regulated customer. on april 15, 2015, we filed a request to lower our texas fixed fuel factor by approximately 24% to reflect reductions in fuel expense. this decrease was effective with may 2015 billings. during the three months ended march 31, 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 the new electric plant were $73.9 million for the three months ended march 31, 2015 and $48.3 million for the three months ended march 31, 2014. capital expenditures for 2015 are expected to be $259.5 million. capital requirements for purchases of nuclear fuel were $10.2 million for the three months ended march 31, 2015 and $11.8 million for the three months ended march 31, 2014. on march 31, 2015, we paid a quarterly cash dividend of $0.28 per share, or $11.3 million to shareholders of record on march 16, 2015. we expect to continue paying quarterly cash dividends during 2015 and we expect to review the dividend policy in the second quarter of 2015. no shares of common stock were repurchased during the three months ended march 31, 2015. as of march 31, 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. the amounts we borrow under the rcf may be used for working capital and general corporate purposes. the total amount borrowed for nuclear fuel by the rgrt was $127.3 million at march 31, 2015, of which $17.3 million had been borrowed under the rcf, and $110 million was borrowed through senior notes. borrowings by the rgrt for nuclear fuel were $130.0 million as of march 31, 2014, of which $20.0 million had been borrowed under the rcf and $110 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 march 31, 2015, $41.0 million was outstanding under the rcf for working capital and general corporate purposes. at march 31, 2014, $26.0 million was outstanding under the rcf for working capital and general corporate purposes. 2015 earnings guidance we are reiterating our earnings guidance for 2015 within a range of $1.75 to $2.15 per basic share. conference call a conference call to discuss first quarter 2015 financial results is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. eastern time, on may 6, 2015. the dial-in number is 888-466-4462 with a conference id number of 5619633. the international dial-in number is 719-457-2697. the conference leader will be lisa budtke, assistant treasurer. a replay will run through may 20, 2015 with a dial-in number of 888-203-1112 and a conference id number of 5619633. 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) 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 ) % ) % ) % ) % ) % ) % ) % ) % ) % ) % ) % ) % ) % ) % ) % % ) % ) % ) % palo verde capacity factor 101.4 % 101.5 % (0.1 ) % (a) the number of retail customers presented is based on the number of service locations. (b) a degree day is recorded for each degree that the average outdoor temperature varies from a standard of 65 degrees fahrenheit. (a) the capitalization component includes common stock equity, long-term debt and the current maturities of long-term debt, and short-term borrowings under the rcf.
