CHARLOTTE, N.C., Nov. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Charlotte based Piedmont Natural Gas (NYSE:
PNY) is initiating its earnings guidance for the fiscal year ending
October 31, 2012 in the range of
$1.58 to $1.68 per diluted share.
The guidance for the fiscal year 2012 reflects the following
assumptions:
- Margin growth from continued 1% gross customer additions in the
Company's North Carolina,
South Carolina and Tennessee markets; completion and placement
into service of the Wayne power generation delivery project on
June 1; and resolution of our general
rate application with the Tennessee Regulatory Authority (TRA)
effective March 1,
- A $3.1 million margin decrease
pursuant to a settlement approved in the Company's 2011 South
Carolina Rate Stabilization proceeding,
- A 9% increase in O&M expenses primarily driven by higher
medical costs, pension expense, payroll, regulatory asset
amortizations and pipeline integrity expenses,
- Capital expenditures in the range of $550 - $600 million, including $250 - $290 million for power generation delivery
projects and $70 - $80 million for
transmission pipeline integrity management programs,
- Allowance for Funds Used During Construction (AFUDC) of
$22 million resulting from the amount
and timing of the capital expenditures,
- Continued performance from our equity method investments,
including an investment by Cardinal Pipeline to serve the Wayne
power generation project,
- Open market share repurchase to offset stock issuances
associated with the Company's Dividend Reinvestment Program and
other stock-based programs with no permanent reduction in shares
outstanding for fiscal year 2012, and
- Issuance of approximately $300
million of new, long-term debt in our fiscal 2012 third
quarter.
Forward-looking Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements. These
statements are based on management's current expectations and
information currently available and are believed to be reasonable
and are made in good faith. However, the forward-looking statements
are subject to future events, risks, uncertainties and other
factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from
those projected in the statements. Factors that may make the actual
results differ from anticipated results include, but are not
limited to, weather conditions, rate of customer growth, the cost
and availability of natural gas, competition from other energy
providers, new legislation and regulations and application of
existing laws and regulations, economic and capital market
conditions, the cost and availability of labor and materials and
other uncertainties, all of which are difficult to predict and some
of which are beyond our control. For these reasons, you should not
rely on these forward-looking statements when making investment
decisions. The words "expect," "believe," "project," "anticipate,"
"intend," "should," "could," "assume," "estimate," "forecast,"
"future," "indicate," "outlook," "plan," "predict," "seek,"
"target," "would," and variations of such words and similar
expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements are only as of the date they are made
and we do not undertake any obligation to update publicly any
forward-looking statement, either as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise. More information about the risks and
uncertainties relating to these forward-looking statements may be
found in Piedmont's latest Forms
10-K and 10-Q, which are available on the SEC's website at
http://www.sec.gov/.
About Piedmont Natural Gas
Piedmont Natural Gas is an energy services company primarily
engaged in the distribution of natural gas to more than one million
residential, commercial and industrial utility customers in
North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, including 52,000 customers served
by municipalities who are wholesale customers. Our subsidiaries are
invested in joint venture, energy-related businesses, including
unregulated retail natural gas marketing, interstate natural gas
storage and intrastate natural gas transportation. More information
about Piedmont Natural Gas is available on the Internet at
http://www.piedmontng.com/.
SOURCE Piedmont Natural Gas