埃特莫斯能源 (ATO) 2025 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Atmos Energy Corporation fiscal 2025 second-quarter earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, today's call is being recorded.

女士們，先生們，感謝你們的支持，歡迎參加 Atmos Energy Corporation 2025 財年第二季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）提醒一下，今天的通話正在被錄音。

I will now hand today's call over to Dan Meziere, Vice President of Investor Relations and Treasurer. Please go ahead, sir.

現在，我將今天的電話會議交給投資者關係副總裁兼財務主管 Dan Meziere。先生，請繼續。

Thank you, Tamika. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining our fiscal 2025 second quarter earnings call. With me today are Kevin Akers, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Chris Forsythe, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Our earnings release and conference call slide presentation, which we will reference in our prepared remarks, are available at atmosenergy.com under the Investor Relations tab.

謝謝你，塔米卡。大家早安，感謝您參加我們的 2025 財年第二季財報電話會議。今天與我一起的還有總裁兼執行長 Kevin Akers；以及資深副總裁兼財務長 Chris Forsythe。我們的收益報告和電話會議幻燈片簡報（我們將在準備好的發言中引用）可在 atmosenergy.com 的「投資者關係」標籤下找到。

As we review these financial results and discuss future expectations, please keep in mind that some of our discussion might contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Act and the Securities Exchange Act. Our forward-looking statements and projections could differ materially from actual results. The factors that could cause such material differences are outlined on slide 29 and are more fully described in our SEC filings.

當我們審查這些財務結果並討論未來預期時，請記住我們的一些討論可能包含《證券法》和《證券交易法》所定義的前瞻性陳述。我們的前瞻性陳述和預測可能與實際結果有重大差異。可能導致此類重大差異的因素已在第 29 張投影片中列出，並在我們提交給美國證券交易委員會的文件中進行了更詳細的描述。

With that, I will turn the call over to Kevin Akers, our President and CEO. Kevin?

說完這些，我將把電話轉給我們的總裁兼執行長凱文·埃克斯 (Kevin Akers)。凱文？

Thank you, Dan, and good morning, everyone. We appreciate your interest in Atmos Energy. Yesterday, we reported year-to-date fiscal '25 net income of $837 million or $5.26 per diluted share. We updated our fiscal '25 earnings per share guidance to a range of $7.20 to $7.30. This performance continues to reflect the commitment, dedication, focus and effort of all Atmos Energy employees to successfully modernize our natural gas distribution, transmission and storage systems, while safely providing reliable natural gas service to 3.4 million customers across 1,400 communities in eight states. For the quarter, we continued to experience robust growth driven by continually favorable employment trends in Texas. For the 12 months ended March 31, 2025, we added nearly 59,000 new customers with almost 46,000 of those new customers located in Texas.

謝謝你，丹，大家早安。感謝您對 Atmos Energy 的關注。昨天，我們報告了 25 財年迄今的淨收入為 8.37 億美元，即每股收益 5.26 美元。我們將 25 財年每股收益預期更新至 7.20 美元至 7.30 美元之間。這項業績繼續體現了所有 Atmos Energy 員工的承諾、奉獻、專注和努力，他們成功地實現了天然氣分配、輸送和儲存系統的現代化，同時為八個州 1,400 個社區的 340 萬客戶安全提供可靠的天然氣服務。本季度，在德州持續良好的就業趨勢的推動下，我們繼續實現強勁成長。截至 2025 年 3 月 31 日的 12 個月內，我們增加了近 59,000 名新客戶，其中近 46,000 名新客戶位於德克薩斯州。

The Texas Workforce Commission reported in April that seasonally adjusted number of employees reached a new record high at over 14.3 million. Texas again added jobs at a faster rate than the nation over the last 12 months ending March adding nearly 192,000 jobs, representing a 1.4% annual growth rate. Commercial customer growth remained solid as well with approximately 850 customers connecting to the system during the second quarter and nearly 2,000 customers connecting to the system fiscal year-to-date.

德州勞動力委員會 4 月報告稱，經季節性調整後的就業人數創下新高，超過 1,430 萬人。截至 3 月的過去 12 個月中，德州就業崗位增加速度再次超過全國平均水平，增加了近 192,000 個就業崗位，年增長率為 1.4%。商業客戶成長也保持穩健，第二季約有 850 名客戶連接到該系統，本財年迄今已有近 2,000 名客戶連接到該系統。

Industrial demand for natural gas in our service territories also remained strong. During the second quarter, we added 9 new industrial customers with an anticipated annual load of approximately 8 Bcf once they are fully operational. Fiscal year-to-date, we've added 20 new industrial customers with an anticipated annual load of approximately 11 Bcf once they're fully operational.

我們服務區域內的工業對天然氣的需求也依然強勁。在第二季度，我們增加了 9 個新的工業客戶，預計這些客戶全面投入營運後年負荷將達到約 80 億立方英尺。本財年迄今為止，我們增加了 20 個新的工業客戶，預計這些客戶全面投入營運後的年負載量約為 110 億立方英尺。

On a volumetric basis, that is equivalent to adding approximately 204,000 residential customers. This growth continues to highlight the value and vital role natural gas plays in economic development across our service territories. In APT, we continue our work on several projects that will enhance the safety, reliability, versatility and supply diversification of our system as well as support the continued growth we are seeing in the local distribution companies behind APT system. During the quarter, work started on Phase 2 of APT's Line WA Loop. This project will install approximately 44 miles of 36-inch pipe to the west of Fort Worth to support growth in the northwestern portion of the DFW Metroplex. This phase is expected to be completed by the end of the calendar year.

從數量上看，這相當於增加約 204,000 名住宅客戶。這一成長持續凸顯了天然氣在我們服務區域的經濟發展中所發揮的價值和重要作用。在 APT，我們繼續進行多個項目，以提高系統的安全性、可靠性、多功能性和供應多樣化，並支援 APT 系統背後的本地分銷公司的持續成長。本季度，APT 的 WA 線環線第二階段工程正式開工。該項目將在沃斯堡以西安裝約 44 英里的 36 英寸管道，以支持 DFW 大都會區西北部的發展。該階段預計將於今年底完成。

Work continues on APT's Bethel to Groesbeck project as well. As a reminder, this project will install approximately 55 miles of 36-inch pipe from our Bethel storage facility to our Groesbeck compressor station to provide additional pipeline capacity to the growing DFW Metroplex and to the Interstate 35 corridor. This project is scheduled to be placed in service late calendar year 2025.

APT 的伯特利至格羅斯貝克計畫仍在繼續進行中。提醒一下，該項目將從我們的 Bethel 儲存設施到我們的 Groesbeck 壓縮機站安裝約 55 英里的 36 英寸管道，為不斷發展的 DFW Metroplex 和 35 號州際公路走廊提供額外的管道容量。該項目預計於 2025 年底投入使用。

APT completed two more interconnect projects during the quarter. Fiscal year-to-date, APT has added over 1 Bcf of additional gas supplies that will enhance supply reliability and versatility to support APT LDC customers.

APT 在本季度完成了另外兩個互連項目。本財年迄今為止，APT 已增加了超過 10 億立方英尺的天然氣供應，這將提高供應的可靠性和多功能性，以支援 APT LDC 客戶。

During the second quarter, our customers support associates and service technicians once again received a 98% satisfaction rating from our customers, reflecting the exceptional customer service they provide each and every day. Our customer advocacy team and customer support agents continue their outreach efforts to energy assistance agencies and customers during the first six months of the fiscal year. Through those efforts, the team helped nearly 32,000 customers receive over $10 million in funding assistance.

在第二季度，我們的客戶支援人員和服務技術人員再次獲得了客戶 98% 的滿意度評級，這反映了他們每天提供的卓越客戶服務。在財政年度的前六個月，我們的客戶宣傳團隊和客戶支援代理商繼續向能源援助機構和客戶進行宣傳工作。透過這些努力，該團隊幫助近 32,000 名客戶獲得了超過 1000 萬美元的資金援助。

Our results for the first half of fiscal '25 reflect the hard work and dedication of all Atmos Energy employees as we continue to safely deliver reliable and efficient natural gas to homes, businesses and industries to fuel our energy needs now and in the future.

25 財年上半年的業績體現了所有 Atmos Energy 員工的辛勤工作和奉獻精神，我們將繼續安全地向家庭、企業和工業提供可靠、高效的天然氣，以滿足我們現在和未來的能源需求。

I will now turn the call over to Chris for his update.

現在我將把電話轉給克里斯，聽取他的最新消息。

Thank you, Kevin, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today. As Kevin mentioned, diluted earnings per share for the first six months of the fiscal year was $5.26 represents a 6.7% increase over the prior year period.

謝謝你，凱文，大家早安。感謝您今天加入我們。正如凱文所說，本財年前六個月的每股攤薄收益為 5.26 美元，比去年同期成長 6.7%。

Operating income increased to $1.1 million or 14.6% for the first six months of the fiscal year. I'll highlight the key drivers of our financial performance. Rate increases in both of our operating segments totaled $185 million. Residential commercial customer growth in our distribution segment, combined with higher industrial load, increased operating income by an additional $14.4 million.

本財政年度前六個月的營業收入增加至 110 萬美元，增幅為 14.6%。我將重點介紹我們財務表現的關鍵驅動因素。我們兩個營運部門的費率上漲總計 1.85 億美元。我們分銷部門的住宅商業客戶成長，加上工業負荷增加，使營業收入額外增加了 1,440 萬美元。

Revenues in our Pipeline and Storage segment increased $11.4 million, reflecting a 10% increase in volumes transported across our system, combined with wider spreads between the Waha Header and the Western end of APT system and delivered points on the Eastern end and southern end of its system. APT also experienced an $8 million increase due to higher capacity contracted by tariff-based customers due to their growing peak day demand. Consolidated O&M expense increased $74 million. This increase was driven by several factors. Employee-related costs increased approximately $27 million primarily due to increased headcount and overtime to support company growth. Additionally, bad debt expense increased $15 million. As a reminder, we recognized a $14 million nonrecurring reduction in bad debt expense last fiscal year, resulted from a regulatory change on how we recover our bed debt expenses specific.

我們的管道和儲存部門的收入增加了 1,140 萬美元，反映了我們系統運輸量的成長 10%，加上 Waha Header 和 APT 系統西端之間的價差擴大以及系統東端和南端的交付點之間的價差擴大。由於高峰日需求不斷增長，基於關稅的客戶簽訂了更高的容量合同，APT 也因此增加了 800 萬美元。合併營運和維護費用增加了 7,400 萬美元。這一增長是由多種因素推動的。員工相關成本增加了約 2,700 萬美元，主要原因是為支持公司發展而增加員工人數和加班時間。此外，壞帳費用增加了1500萬美元。提醒一下，我們確認上個財政年度壞帳費用一次性減少 1,400 萬美元，這是由於監管部門對我們收回特定床位債務費用的方式進行了更改。

We also experienced a $14 million increase in O&M associated with higher levels of line locating, pipeline inspection and system monitoring activities. Finally, we experienced a $9.4 million increase in APT system safety and integrity expense, which is offset by a corresponding increase in revenue, resulting in no impact to operating income.

由於線路定位、管道檢查和系統監控活動水準提高，我們的 O&M 費用也增加了 1,400 萬美元。最後，我們的 APT 系統安全和完整性費用增加了 940 萬美元，但這被相應的收入增加所抵消，因此對營業收入沒有影響。

From a regulatory perspective, we have implemented approximately $153 million in annualized regulatory outcomes and we currently have over $389 million in progress. Of this amount, we anticipate implementing between $175 million and $180 million of annualized operating income increases in fiscal '25 with the remainder expected to be implemented in the first quarter of fiscal '26.

從監管角度來看，我們已經實施了約 1.53 億美元的年度監管成果，目前還有超過 3.89 億美元的進展。其中，我們預計25財年將實現1.75億美元至1.8億美元的年度營業收入成長，剩餘部分預計將在26財年第一季實現。

Included in this amount is $39.2 million requested in our West Texas general rate case. On April 25, the administrative law judge issued a proposal precision with the following key recommendations. A 9.8% return on equity, actual capital structure, which reflects a 60.97% equity layer, approved over rate base totaling $1.2 billion, approval capitalized cloud computing costs as fixed assets recovered over a 15-year period, which essentially treat these costs as a capital expenditure rather than O&M line items and the authorization of two regulatory asset trackers.

該金額包括我們在西德州一般稅率案件中要求的 3,920 萬美元。4 月 25 日，行政法官發布了一份提案，其中包含以下主要建議。9.8% 的股本回報率，實際資本結構，反映了 60.97% 的股權層，批准的利率基數總計 12 億美元，批准將雲端運算成本資本化為 15 年內回收的固定資產，這基本上將這些成本視為資本支出，而不是 O&M 項目，以及兩個監管資產追蹤器的授權。

The first is the system safety integrity regulatory asset that allow us to defer O&M incurred after June 30, 2024, in excess of $3.5 million related to system, safety, integrity regulations adopted by Rail Commission and Vesa. These costs will be considered for recovery in a future rate filing. The segment provides for regulatory asset or liability treatment that capture the effects of changes in federal and state income taxes, including the corporate alternative minimum tax. The proposed precision is scheduled be considered by the Railroad Commission on May 13. If approved as filed, the settlement would result in a $30.6 million increase in annual operating income.

第一個是系統安全完整性監管資產，它使我們能夠推遲 2024 年 6 月 30 日之後發生的超過 350 萬美元的與鐵路委員會和 Vesa 採用的系統、安全、完整性法規相關的 O&M。這些成本將在未來的費率申報中考慮收回。該部門提供監管資產或負債處理，以捕捉聯邦和州所得稅變化的影響，包括企業替代最低稅。鐵路委員會計劃於 5 月 13 日審議該提案的精確度。如果和解協議獲得批准，該協議將導致年度營業收入增加 3,060 萬美元。

In our Mid-Tex division, the two general rate cases we filed last fall for the ATM Cities Coalition and our environs customers were consolidated into one general rate case during the second fiscal quarter. As a reminder, this consolidated case represents approximately 15% of the Mid-Tex division's customer base.

在我們的中德州分部，去年秋天我們為 ATM 城市聯盟和周邊地區客戶提起的兩起一般費率案件在第二財政季度合併為一起一般費率案件。提醒一下，這個合併案例代表了 Mid-Tex 部門約 15% 的客戶群。

On April 30, we filed with the administrative law judge, a proposed settlement on this consolidated case. The key terms of the proposed settlement, ROE, capital structure and the accounting treatments I just described and the same as what is included in the West Texas disposal decision. Additionally, the recommendation includes approval of rate base allocable to these customers and approximately $1.1 billion.

4 月 30 日，我們向行政法官提交了針對該合併案件的和解方案。我剛才描述的擬議解決方案的關鍵條款、ROE、資本結構和會計處理與西德克薩斯處置決策中的內容相同。此外，該建議還包括批准分配給這些客戶的費率基礎和約 11 億美元。

If the Ministry of Law Judge recommends a settlement for approval, we anticipate the settlement to be scheduled for consideration by the Rail Commission on June 10. If approved as filed, the segment will result in a $6.7 million increase in annual operating income. Additionally, we expect the Rail Commission will also consider APT's 2024 GRIP line for $77.2 million at its June 10 meeting.

如果司法部法官建議批准和解方案，我們預計和解方案將於 6 月 10 日提交給鐵道委員會審議。如果獲得批准，該部門的年度營業收入將增加 670 萬美元。此外，我們預計鐵路委員會還將在 6 月 10 日的會議上考慮 APT 的 2024 年 GRIP 線路，價格為 7720 萬美元。

Finally, in Kentucky, we completed here in this week before the Public Service Commission regarding our general rate case. We anticipate a final order during our fiscal fourth quarter. Our balance sheet and financial position remains strong. Our equity capitalization as of March 31 was 61%, and we do not any short-term debt outstanding.

最後，在肯塔基州，我們本週在公共服務委員會面前完成了有關我們的一般費率案件的審理。我們預計將在財政第四季收到最終訂單。我們的資產負債表和財務狀況依然強勁。截至 3 月 31 日，我們的股本資本化率為 61%，且我們沒有任何未償還的短期債務。

During the second quarter, we extended our four credit facilities totaling $3.1 billion. At quarter end, we had $5.3 billion in available liquidity to support our operations. Included in this amount is $1.7 billion of net proceeds available from our ATM activities which is expected to satisfy the remainder of our anticipated fiscal '25 equity needs and all of our anticipated equity needs for fiscal '26.

第二季度，我們提供了四項信貸安排，總額達 31 億美元。截至季末，我們擁有 53 億美元可用流動資金來支持我們的營運。該金額中包括來自 ATM 活動 17 億美元的淨收益，預計可滿足​​我們 25 財年預期股權需求的剩餘部分以及 26 財年預期股權需求的全部。

Our fiscal year-to-date performance gives us confidence to increase our fiscal '25 earnings per share guidance from a range of $7.05 to $7.25 to a new range of $7.20 to $7.30. We expect the remaining contribution to fiscal 2025 earnings per share to be recognized somewhat evenly by quarter in the back half of the fiscal year. The increase of our guidance largely reflects the strength of APT's through-system business during the first half of the fiscal year and our expectations for this part of APT's business for the remainder of the fiscal year.

我們財年迄今的表現使我們有信心將 25 財年的每股收益預期從 7.05 美元至 7.25 美元提高至 7.20 美元至 7.30 美元的新範圍。我們預計，2025 財年每股收益的剩餘貢獻將在本財年下半年按季度平均確認。我們指引的增加很大程度上反映了 APT 在本財年上半年的全系統業務的強勁表現，以及我們對 APT 在本財年剩餘時間這部分業務的預期。

As a reminder, following a strong fiscal '24 performance, we entered fiscal '25, assuming a return to more normalized through-system marketing conditions as a result of increased takeaway capacity in the Permian Basin. Now we currently expect APT through-system business performed just slightly less than the prior year. However, the timing of these revenues in fiscal '25 is expected to be different than in fiscal '24.

提醒一下，繼 24 財年表現強勁之後，我們進入了 25 財年，假設由於二疊紀盆地外賣能力的提高，整個系統的營銷條件將恢復到更加正常的狀態。目前，我們預期 APT 直通系統業務的表現將略低於前一年。然而，預計 25 財年這些收入的實現時間將與 24 財年有所不同。

Through March 31, about half of the expected contribution for fiscal 2025 from this portion of APT's business has already be recognized. In the prior year, nearly 80% of APT's through-system business was recognized in the second half of the fiscal year. Additionally, we anticipate ad valorem taxes to be lower than planned and has increased our O&M spending to stay ahead of compliance work to further enhance the safety and reliability of our system. We will also perform some additional makes this summer to prepare for the upcoming winter heating season. We now anticipate our O&M, excluding bad debt expense, to be in the range of $860 million to $880 million. A significant portion of the year-over-year increase has already been recognized, and we anticipate O&M in the back half of fiscal '25 to be just slightly higher than in the same period in the prior year.

截至 3 月 31 日，APT 這部分業務對 2025 財年的預期貢獻中約有一半已被確認。上一年，APT 近 80% 的直通系統業務是在財年下半年實現的。此外，我們預計從價稅將低於計劃，並增加了我們的營運和維護支出，以保持領先的合規工作，進一步提高我們系統的安全性和可靠性。我們還將在今年夏天進行一些額外的工作，為即將到來的冬季供暖季節做準備。我們現在預計，不包括壞帳費用的營運和維護費用將在 8.6 億美元至 8.8 億美元之間。我們已經確認了很大一部分同比增長，我們預計 25 財年下半年的 O&M 將略高於去年同期。

Finally, our capital guidance -- capital spending guidance remains on track to be approximately $3.7 billion. We appreciate your time this morning and your interest in Atmos Energy.

最後，我們的資本指引—資本支出指引仍保持在約 37 億美元的水準。我們感謝您今天上午的時間以及對 Atmos Energy 的關注。

I'll now open up the call for questions.

我現在開始回答問題。

(Operator Instructions) Richard Sunderland, JPMorgan.

（操作員指示）摩根大通的理查德·桑德蘭。

Appreciate all the commentary here. I wanted to start with guidance. It sounds like APT through-system activity certainly contributing to some of the upside here, is the higher guidance for 2025 a fair base to think about growth going forward? Or does some of that normalization that you had originally anticipated for '25 need to be factored in for growth for '26 and beyond?

感謝這裡的所有評論。我想從指導開始。聽起來 APT 的全系統活動確實為這裡的一些上行趨勢做出了貢獻，那麼 2025 年的更高預期是否是思考未來成長的合理基礎？或者，您最初預期的 25 年正常化是否需要考慮到 26 年及以後的成長？

Yes. It's a good question, Rich. So we'll still figure looking at what will happen for the rest of the summer. As you know, conditions are very volatile in the market right now. And as we set our fiscal '26 plans, we'll take a snapshot of market conditions, probably late summer, early fall, prior to us releasing our fiscal '26 guidance and updated 5-year plan to really reflect what we think will be truly reflective of that business for the next fiscal year.

是的。這是個好問題，里奇。因此，我們仍將關註今年夏天剩餘時間將會發生什麼。如您所知，目前市場狀況非常不穩定。在製定 26 財年計劃時，我們會對市場狀況進行快照，可能是在夏末秋初，然後我們再發布 26 財年指導和更新的五年計劃，以真正反映我們認為真正反映下一財年業務的情況。

Okay. Got it. Sounds like more to come. Again, similarly on the O&M, it seemed like some of the higher O&M for '25 is a pull forward from '26. Is that a fair characterization? How are you thinking about the higher O&M this year and any efforts that derisk '26 on that front?

好的。知道了。聽起來還有更多。同樣，在 O&M 方面，25 年的一些較高 O&M 似乎是從 26 年向前拉動的。這是一個公正的描述嗎？您如何看待今年更高的 O&M 以及在這方面降低 26 風險的任何努力？

Yes. A couple of things. There's certainly an opportunity to pull forward as I described with the lower-than-planned expense vis-a-vis our expectations also, we've talked many, many times, we are not a just-in-time company from an O&M spending perspective. So if we have opportunities to further stay ahead of our compliance deadlines or if we see opportunities coming out of the winter heating season this last six months, you need to get right for the next six months, we'll perform some additional maintenance in the summer months when our crews and folks are available. So it's a little bit of both. It's just kind of opportunistic based on the operating conditions of the system at this point in time as well as taking advantage of opportunities to pull forward a little bit from future periods.

是的。有幾件事。正如我所描述的，相對於我們的預期，低於計劃的支出肯定是一個向前邁進的機會，我們已經談過很多次了，從 O&M 支出的角度來看，我們不是一家準時制公司。因此，如果我們有機會進一步提前完成合規期限，或者如果我們看到過去六個月冬季供暖季節出現機會，那麼就需要為接下來的六個月做好準備，我們將在夏季我們的工作人員和人員有空的時候進行一些額外的維護。所以兩者都有一點。這只是基於當前系統運作狀況的一種機會主義行為，同時也利用機會從未來時期向前邁進一點。

Yes. The only thing I'll add to that is that, again, with the lesson we have of being in growth properties right now, we had an increase in the number of line located from the previous year. And we'll continue to see that probably going forward, just given the economic conditions that I discussed earlier in my remarks. So that's the other part of that O&M, if you will, sometimes with growth, people don't see that you'll have the increased line locating expense as well.

是的。我唯一要補充的是，根據我們目前在成長型房地產方面所獲得的教訓，與前一年相比，我們的線路數量有所增加。考慮到我之前在發言中討論過的經濟狀況，我們可能會繼續看到這種情況。因此，這是 O&M 的另一部分，如果你願意的話，有時隨著成長，人們不會看到你也會增加線路定位費用。

Got it. That's very helpful. Just a quick follow-up on the O&M discussion there. It sounded like in the Texas GRCs that there is some retroactive component to the reg asset tracker you were referencing. I may not be understanding all the puts and takes there. But just wanted to clarify, if you get the final orders in line with settlement, is that upside from that retroactive component and I mean, upside versus '25 guidance, to be clear.

知道了。這非常有幫助。只是對那裡的 O&M 討論進行快速跟進。聽起來，在德克薩斯州 GRC 中，您所引用的註冊資產追蹤器有一些追溯性組成部分。我可能不理解那裡發生的所有事情。但只是想澄清一下，如果你得到與和解一致的最終命令，那麼追溯部分是否會帶來好處，我的意思是，相對於 25 年指導而言，好處是顯而易見的。

At this point, we reflected in our guidance, our expectations for O&M and both the cloud computing treatments as well as the SSI in our current guidance.

此時，我們在我們的指導中反映了我們對 O&M 的期望以及我們當前指導中的雲端運算處理和 SSI。

Nick Campanella, Barclays.

巴克萊銀行的尼克·坎帕內拉。

This is actually [Say] for Nick today, I just want to quickly follow up on financing. It seems like year-to-date equity issuance slightly higher than year-to-date 2024. Again, I think with higher capital plan, higher rate base growth, can you update us on the equity financing for the rest of the year, if there is any changes from the messaging from last quarter? And also kind of seeing the interest rate swap to be in a similar spot as last quarter. Just generally, can you speak to the strategy, managing the costs over there as well?

這實際上是今天對尼克說的，我只是想快速跟進融資問題。今年迄今的股票發行量似乎略高於 2024 年迄今的股票發行量。再次，我認為隨著資本計劃的增加和利率基礎增長的提高，您能否向我們介紹今年剩餘時間的股權融資情況，如果與上個季度的消息相比有任何變化？並且還發現利率互換處於與上一季類似的位置。總體來說，您能談談那裡的成本管理策略嗎？

Sure. This is Chris. So I mean, our financing strategy hasn't changed since prior quarter or really for the last several years, we'll continue to finance the corporation in a balanced fashion using a combination of equity long-term debt with equity coming through the ATM. We talked about it had a $1.7 billion on the page now that's been priced to reflect our equity needs -- our anticipated equity for fiscal '25 as well as 2026. And we'll draw that down as the cash needs via corporation dictate when we need to use that.

當然。這是克里斯。所以我的意思是，我們的融資策略自上一季以來就沒有改變過，或者實際上在過去幾年裡也沒有改變過，我們將繼續以平衡的方式為公司融資，結合股權長期債務和透過 ATM 獲得的股權。我們談到了現在的 17 億美元，其定價反映了我們的股權需求——我們對 2025 財年和 2026 財年的預期股權。我們將根據公司現金需求提取這筆資金，並決定何時使用。

Additionally, from a long-term debt perspective, you know the swap that we have in place That's, again, tied to our anticipated debt issuance in the fall for anticipating a 30 year issues at this point in time. So at this point, we don't see any changes in executing that particularly that transaction, and utilizing that swap for the benefit of our customers.

此外，從長期債務角度來看，您知道我們已經實施的掉期，這再次與我們預計在秋季發行的 30 年期債務掛鉤。因此，目前，我們沒有看到執行該交易（特別是該交易）以及利用該掉期為我們的客戶帶來利益方面有任何變化。

Got it. That's very helpful. And I just want to follow up on economic development, and seeing the tremendous growth in Texas driven by C&I customers. Could you talk about, first of all, definitely generally need a gas need in the region. And obviously, you're adding a large quantity of new gas demand each quarter.

知道了。這非常有幫助。我只是想關注經濟發展，並看到由 C&I 客戶推動的德克薩斯州的巨大增長。首先，您能否談談該地區普遍存在的天然氣需求。顯然，每季都會增加大量新的天然氣需求。

I guess at this point, is there any pipeline of projects you're working on or if there's any quantifiable backlog that you can discuss? I'll leave it there.

我想此時此刻，您是否正在進行任何項目，或者是否有任何可量化的積壓工作可以討論？我就把它留在那裡。

Yes. I'm not not sure about your question on backlog. We don't have a backlog per se. I talked about the 2 high-priority projects for APT, the WA Loop and Bethel to Groesbeck project right now. Additionally, we're finishing up work on our third salt-dome cavern as part of our integrity maintenance program.

是的。我不確定你關於積壓的問題。我們本身沒有積壓。我目前談到了 APT 的兩個高優先級項目，即 WA Loop 和 Bethel 至 Groesbeck 項目。此外，作為完整性維護計劃的一部分，我們正在完成第三個鹽丘洞穴的建設工作。

We anticipate that to be ramping up sometime in the next 9- to 12-month period that's out there. Everything else is all scheduled work that we have lined out on a one-, three- and five-year basis according to the reliability, supply versatility and/or our risk model safety concerns or direction that way. Now as we have in our slide deck, we point to 85% investment on capital for safety, reliability for the fiscal year-to-date period.

我們預計，在未來 9 到 12 個月內，這一數字將會上升。其餘一切都是我們根據可靠性、供應多功能性和/或我們的風險模型安全問題或方向，按一年、三年和五年的時間安排的所有預定工作。正如我們在幻燈片中所述，我們指出，本財年迄今為止，安全性和可靠性的資本投資已達到 85%。

(Operator Instructions) Julien Dumoulin, Jefferies.

（操作員指示）Julien Dumoulin，Jefferies。

This is [Park] on for Julien. Just really quick, legislatively, just wondering what are some of the key builds you guys monetary and what potential benefits or implications do they carry for your business? Like, for example, we noticed there's HB-4384 regarding the standalone depreciation tracker for gas LDCs, do you see that as a potential benefit for your business? Just any color on that one would be helpful.

這是 [Park] 為 Julien 上場。只是很快，從立法角度來說，我只是想知道你們在貨幣方面採取的一些關鍵措施是什麼，以及它們為你們的業務帶來哪些潛在的好處或影響？例如，我們注意到 HB-4384 涉及天然氣 LDC 的獨立折舊追蹤器，您是否認為這對您的業務有潛在好處？任何顏色都會有幫助。

Yes. We continue to monitor all the sessions across our eight states. We have two that are currently closed or concluded their session Mississippi and Kentucky. Don't want to get too far ahead of the work that's continued to going on across our legislative bodies right now. But we do see some builds out there that have our interest right now, but we think it needs to go through the final steps of the legislative process.

是的。我們將繼續監控我們八個州的所有會議。目前，密西西比州和肯塔基州已經關閉或結束了會議。我們不想走得太遠，因為我們的立法機構目前正在進行的工作仍在繼續。但我們確實看到了一些我們目前感興趣的建設，但我們認為它需要經過立法程序的最後步驟。

And then if they're related to the utility side of the business, they have to go to that particular jurisdictions commission to see how it falls into either tariffs or rules or action upon for that company. So I don't want to get too far out in front of what the legislature is going to do for the remaining session. But again, we're keeping an eye on everything that's out there.

然後，如果他們與業務的公用事業方面有關，他們必須去特定的司法管轄區委員會以了解該公司如何適用關稅、規則或行動。因此，我不想過多談論立法機構在剩餘會議期間將要做的事情。但我們會繼續關注外面發生的一切。

That's very clear. And maybe just another housekeeping question. So since you raised the FY25 EPS guidance, so the new guidance midpoint is now $7.25, should we use the new EPS guidance midpoint as the new EPS base?

這非常清楚。這也許只是另一個日常問題。因此，由於您提高了 FY25 EPS 指導，因此新的指導中點現在為 7.25 美元，我們是否應該使用新的 EPS 指導中點作為新的 EPS 基數？

When you say new EPS base, what do you mean there?

當您說新的 EPS 基礎時，您指的是什麼？

Is for calculating the five-year CAGR?

是為了計算五年複合年增長率嗎？

At this point, I think that's a pretty fair assumption.

從這一點來看，我認為這是一個非常合理的假設。

Paul Fremont, Landenberg Thalmann.

保羅‧弗里蒙特、蘭登堡‧塔爾曼。

Congratulations on a strong quarter, and my question has been answered.

恭喜您本季業績表現強勁，我的問題也得到了解答。

Christopher Jeffrey, Mizuho Securities.

瑞穗證券的克里斯多福‧傑弗瑞 (Christopher Jeffrey)。

(inaudible)

（聽不清楚）

We can't hear you on this end.

我們這邊聽不到您的聲音。

Sorry, is that better?

抱歉，這樣好些了嗎？

That's better.

那就更好了。

Okay. So just A couple of quick ones from me. I just noticed the timing for the Colorado rate case expectation got pushed back a bit. Just any kind of thoughts on timing there and expectations for when you get to that case?

好的。我只想簡單說幾點。我剛剛注意到科羅拉多州利率預期的時間被推遲了一點。對於時間安排以及處理該案件時的預期，您有什麼想法嗎？

No, that's something we're always looking at. What we have going on in the jurisdiction where we have going on in other jurisdictions, ongoing conversation with our regulatory jurisdiction. So I wouldn't read a lot into that at this point. .

不，這是我們一直在關注的事情。我們在該司法管轄區內所進行的活動與其他司法管轄區內的活動一樣，都在與我們的監管管轄區進行持續對話。因此目前我不會對此進行過多的解讀。。

Great. And then maybe just on the West Texas, the cloud computing costs that you mentioned, Kevin, in the opening remarks, just kind of expectations for that to be implemented more wholesale across Texas or any other states? Does that kind of change how you're approaching thinking about those types of costs within rate base?

偉大的。然後也許只是在西德克薩斯州，凱文，在開場白中您提到的雲端運算成本，只是期望在德克薩斯州或任何其他州更全面地實施？這是否會改變您對費率基礎內這些類型的成本的看法？

I just kind of view this as a continuation of our ongoing regulatory strategy or seeking to reduce lag where we can. Oftentimes, we'll start with an individual jurisdiction who will includes something into the regulatory construct. We then try to seek to replicate that in other states to the best of our ability. So we'll see where the rail commissions vote comes down next week. And then after that, from the May 13 for West Texas and again from Mid-Tex on June 10.

我只是將此視為我們正在進行的監管策略的延續或尋求盡可能減少滯後。通常，我們會從將某些內容納入監管結構的個別司法管轄區開始。然後，我們會盡力嘗試在其他州複製這種做法。因此，我們將在下週看看鐵路委員會的投票結果。此後，從 5 月 13 日起，西德克薩斯州將開始罷工，6 月 10 日，中德克薩斯州也將再次開始罷工。

And then we'll see if it makes sense for us to bring that to other jurisdictions within the enterprise. .

然後我們會看看將其帶到企業內的其他司法管轄區是否有意義。。

Got it. And just to clarify, so that would be the first jurisdiction that that type of cost is included.

知道了。需要澄清的是，這將是第一個包含此類成本的司法管轄區。

Correct.

正確的。

Ryan Levine, Citigroup.

花旗集團的瑞安‧萊文 (Ryan Levine)。

Just a quick one. In terms of APT expansion projects, the business continues to grow pretty materially. What are the underlying growth assumptions that embed the expansion projects that you have underway? And what conditions would merit further expansion or upside to your existing plants?

只是快速的。就APT擴張項目而言，業務持續大幅成長。您正在進行的擴張項目所基於的潛在成長假設是什麼？什麼條件值得進一步擴大或提升現有工廠？

It's all part of our planning process. Again, it's based on what the city models are and what they're seeing for growth population increases across the service territories, what we're seeing for demand anticipated capacity requirements off of that growth. We put those in our models and then try and forecast out when we expect that demand to show up and make sure we have the pipe and the supply already there to meet those anticipated demands. That's something we go through several times a year and then reaffirm again with our customers what their NVQs are as we head into winter, then post winter on APT will review what actual NVQs they achieved and will reset the go-forward basis, that drives our modeling for the next several years.

這都是我們規劃過程的一部分。再次，它基於城市模型以及他們所看到的服務區域人口增長情況，以及我們所看到的基於這種增長的預期容量需求。我們將這些放入我們的模型中，然後嘗試預測我們預計需求何時會出現，並確保我們已經有管道和供應來滿足這些預期的需求。這是我們每年都會經歷幾次的事情，然後在進入冬季時再次與我們的客戶確認他們的 NVQ 是什麼，然後在冬季過後，APT 將審查他們實際獲得 NVQ 的內容，並重新設定前進的基礎，這將推動我們未來幾年的建模。

So given the winner is largely behind us, has that a refresh already occurred for this calendar year, so that we wouldn't expect any material changes until a review post winter 2026 of expansion opportunities?

因此，鑑於獲勝者基本上已經過去，今年是否已經進行了更新，以便我們預計在 2026 年冬季之後對擴張機會進行審查之前不會發生任何重大變化？

The review is ongoing at this point. We continue to have conversations with those LDCs behind our city gate there on APT, and we'll look to make sure those are reset prior to heading into next heating season, if any adjustments at all are required.

目前審查仍在進行中。我們將繼續與 APT 上我們城市大門後面的 LDC 進行對話，如果需要進行任何調整，我們將確保在進入下一個供暖季節之前重新設定這些 LDC。

At this time, there are no further questions. I will now hand today's call back over to the presenters for closing remarks.

目前，沒有其他問題。現在我將今天的發言交還給演講者，請他們作結語。

We appreciate your interest in Atmos Energy, and thank you again for joining us today. A recording of this call is available for replay on our website through June 30. Have a good day.

感謝您對 Atmos Energy 的關注，再次感謝您今天加入我們。本次通話的錄音可在我們的網站上重播至 6 月 30 日。祝你有美好的一天。

This does conclude today's call. Thank you for joining. You may now disconnect your lines..

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的加入。現在您可以斷開線路了。