CHARLOTTE, N.C., Dec. 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Piedmont
Natural Gas (NYSE: PNY) today announced results for its fiscal year
ended October 31, 2014. For the year, the Company reported net
income of $143.8 million, or
$1.84 per diluted share, compared
with net income of $134.4 million, or
$1.78 per diluted share for 2013.
Commenting on the Company's fiscal year 2014 results, Piedmont
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Thomas E. Skains said, "We are pleased with our
results in 2014. In addition to our strong financial
performance, we generated demand growth for natural gas in our
three-state service area through the addition of 16,251 new
customers, up 14 percent from our customer additions in 2013. Also,
for the third year in a row, our investment in support of utility
customer growth, system integrity management programs, and
non-utility joint venture opportunities exceeded $.5 billion. Our customer service
performance continued to improve in 2014 with national residential
customer satisfaction surveys ranking our customer contact center
and field customer service performance second and third,
respectively, among more than 80 natural gas utilities
surveyed. As we look ahead to 2015, these results provide a
strong foundation for continued growth and performance."
System throughput in 2014 totaled 410.7 million dekatherms, up
6% from 387.6 million dekatherms in 2013. Weather during 2014 was 9
percent colder than normal and 6 percent colder than 2013.
Margin was $690.2 million, an
increase of $68.7 million from the
prior year. The increase in margin is primarily attributable to
increased volume deliveries in the South
Carolina and Tennessee
retail markets due to colder weather, regulatory rate adjustments,
customer growth, increased transportation services in the power
generation markets, and higher margin sales from secondary market
activity.
Operations and maintenance expenses increased $17.8 million from the previous year primarily
due to increases in payroll, approved amortization of regulatory
assets, a higher level of bad debt from colder weather and greater
customer consumption and contract labor.
Utility interest charges were $54.7
million in 2014 compared to $25
million in 2013. The increase was primarily due to a
decrease in capitalized interest as a result of lower utility
project construction expenditures, an increase in interest expense
on amounts due to customers and increases in long-term debt expense
due to higher amounts outstanding.
Pre-tax income from equity method investments was $32.8 million in 2014 compared with $26.1 million in 2013. The increase was primarily
due to improved performance at SouthStar from the expansion of the
business into Illinois markets and
colder weather across its market area, partially offset by higher
operating and general and administrative expenses.
FISCAL 2015 EARNINGS GUIDANCE REAFFIRMED
Piedmont Natural Gas reaffirms its fiscal year 2015 earnings
guidance of $1.82 to $1.92 per
diluted share.
DIVIDEND
At its regular quarterly meeting of the Company's Board of
Directors on December 12, 2014, Piedmont Natural Gas announced
the declaration of a quarterly dividend on Common Stock of
32 cents per share, payable on
January 15, 2015 to holders of record at the close of business
on December 24, 2014.
CONFERENCE CALL
In conjunction with this year-end earnings release, you are
invited to listen to the conference call that will be broadcast
live over the Internet on Monday, January 5,
2015 at 10 a.m. Eastern Time,
hosted by Chairman, President and CEO Thomas E. Skains. Log onto the web at
www.piedmontng.com and click on Investor Relations, then on
Presentations. The conference call will be archived on the
Presentation page of the website within the Investor Relations
section.
Summary of
Operations
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(in thousands except
per share amounts and degree days)
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Twelve Months
Ended
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October
31
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% Increase
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2014
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2013
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(Decrease)
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Operating
Revenues
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$
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1,469,988
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$
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1,278,229
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15
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%
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Cost of
Gas
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779,780
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656,739
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19
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%
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Margin
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690,208
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621,490
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11
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%
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Operations and
Maintenance Expenses
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270,877
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253,120
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7
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%
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Depreciation
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118,996
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112,207
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6
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%
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General
Taxes
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37,294
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34,635
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8
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%
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Utility Income
Taxes
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83,176
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|
|
77,334
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|
|
8
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%
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Operating
Income
|
|
179,865
|
|
|
144,194
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|
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25
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%
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Other Income
(Expense), net
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18,622
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|
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15,161
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|
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23
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%
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Utility Interest
Charges
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54,686
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|
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24,938
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|
|
119
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%
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Net Income
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143,801
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|
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134,417
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7
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%
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Average Shares of
Common Stock:
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Basic
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77,883
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74,884
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4
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%
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Diluted
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78,193
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75,333
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4
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%
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Earnings Per Share of
Common Stock:
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Basic
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$
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1.85
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$
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1.80
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3
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%
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Diluted
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$
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1.84
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$
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1.78
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3
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%
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System Throughput -
Dekatherms
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410,702
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387,600
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6
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%
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Gas Customers Billed
in October
|
|
993
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|
|
980
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|
|
1
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%
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System Average Degree
Days - Actual
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3,543
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|
|
3,336
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|
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6
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%
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System Average Degree
Days - Normal
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3,265
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|
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3,276
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—
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%
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Percent Normal Degree
Days
|
|
109
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%
|
|
102
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%
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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," "may,"
"guidance," 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, 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, industrial and power generation customers
in portions of North Carolina,
South Carolina and Tennessee, including customers served by
municipalities who are wholesale customers. Our subsidiaries are
invested in joint venture, energy-related businesses, including
unregulated retail natural gas marketing, regulated interstate
natural gas transportation and storage, and regulated intrastate
natural gas transportation businesses. More information about
Piedmont Natural Gas is available on the Internet at
http://www.piedmontng.com/.
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visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/piedmont-natural-gas-reports-results-for-fiscal-year-2014-300013794.html
SOURCE Piedmont Natural Gas