CHARLOTTE, N.C., Nov. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Piedmont
Natural Gas (NYSE: PNY) is initiating its earnings guidance for the
fiscal year ending October 31, 2013
in the range of $1.67 - $1.77 per
diluted share. The guidance for the fiscal year 2013 reflects
the following assumptions:
- Margin growth due to normal weather, gross customer additions
of slightly greater than 1% in the Company's North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee markets, the full-year impact of the
Wayne County power generation
delivery project that went into service on June 1, 2012 and the Tennessee general rate case that went into
effect on March 1, 2012, and the
completion and placement into service of the Sutton power
generation delivery project as scheduled for June 1, 2013;
- Margin reduction in secondary marketing due to lower
price and basis volatility in the wholesale natural gas markets as
well as a $1.1 million annual margin
decrease pursuant to a settlement approved in the Company's 2012
South Carolina Rate Stabilization proceeding effective November 1, 2012;
- Higher O&M expense of about 5% primarily driven by higher
pension costs due to lower discount rates, higher payroll costs,
and higher utility operations expense related to pipeline
integrity, safety and compliance programs;
- Higher depreciation expense reflecting additional utility plant
in service;
- Allowance for Funds Used During Construction (AFUDC) of about
$28 million resulting from the amount
and timing of capital expenditures;
- Modest improvement from equity method investments mostly due to
normal weather in the markets served by SouthStar Energy;
- Capital expenditures in the range of $525 - $575 million, including $75 - $85 million for the completion of the
Sutton power generation delivery project, and higher utility
capital expenditures related to pipeline integrity, safety and
compliance programs, and system and technology
infrastructure;
- Higher interest expense reflecting the full-year impact of the
$300 million long-term debt issuance
in fiscal year 2012, as well as a new $250
million issuance of long-term debt in fiscal year 2013;
and
- A new equity issuance of approximately 4 million shares during
fiscal year 2013.
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
place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements when
making investment decisions. The words "expect," "believe,"
"project," "anticipate," "intend," "should," "could,"
"assume," "can," "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 53,000 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