American States Water Co (AWR) 2014 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Welcome to the American States Water Company conference call discussing the company's first-quarter 2014 results. If you would like to listen to the replay of this call, it will begin this afternoon at approximately 5:00 PM Eastern time and run through Wednesday, May 14, 2014 on the company's website, www.aswater.com.

(Operator Instructions)

As a reminder, this call is being recorded and will be limited to no more than one hour. At this time, I would like to turn the call over to Eva Tang, Chief Financial Officer of American States Water Company.

Thank you Nikki. Welcome everyone and thank you for joining us today. On the call with me is our President and CEO, Bob Sprowls.

As a reminder certain matters discussed in this conference call may be forward-looking statements intended to qualify for the Safe Harbor from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Please review a description of the Company's risks and uncertainties in our most recent form 10K and form 10-Q on file with the securities and exchange commission.

With that, I will now discuss the first quarter financial results. Diluted earnings for the first quarter of 2014 were $0.28 per share, compared to $0.35 per share for the same period in 2013. Net income for the quarter was $11 million, compared to $13.5 million for the same period of last year. Included in the results for first quarter of 2013 was the impact of the one-time recovery of previously incurred cost of $3.1 million, or $0.05 per share approved by the California Public Utilities Commission, or the CPUC, in 2013.

There was no similar item in the first quarter of 2014. Excluding this one-time nonrecurring item, earnings for the water segment increased by $0.01 per share and consolidated earnings decreased by $0.02 per share, primarily due to an expected reduction in renewal and replacement capital work at our contractor services segment.

For the quarter, water revenue at Golden State Water increased by $1.5 million, to $70.8 million, as compared to the same period in 2013. There was an increase of $1.3 million in surcharges billed to our customers during the first quarter of 2014. With a corresponding increase in operating expenses for recovery of previously incurred costs. These surcharges had no impact to our net earnings. There were also rate increases for 2014, the impact to operating revenue associated with this rate increases, is anticipated to be approximately $1.6 million for 2014.

Electric revenues at Golden State Water were $10.5 million as compared to $10.7 million for the same period in 2013, pending a final decision on the electric generate case, electric revenues have been recorded using 2012 adopted levels authorized by the CPUC.

Revenues for our contracted services business, American States Utility Services, or ASUS, decreased to $20.7 million for the first quarter of 2014. Primarily driven by a planned reduction in renewal and replacement capital works at the Fort Bliss and Fort Jackson military bases. On all construction will continue to vary from year to year over the remaining term of that 50-year contract with the government. However, overall construction activity is expected to increase during the remainder of 2014 as compared to the first quarter.

Our water and electric supply costs were $20.2 million for the first quarter of 2014. Any changes in supply costs for both the water and electric segments as compared to the adopted supply costs are tracked in balancing accounts which will be recovered from or refunded to our customer in the future.

Other operation expenses increased by $1.5 million for the first quarter of 2014. As I mentioned earlier, at the CPUC approved a one-time recovery of $3.1 million in 2013 for previously incurred costs. $1 million of which was related to operation costs. So excluding the $1 million credit recorded in the first quarter of 2013, there was an increase of $500,000 and 2014's first quarter, primarily due to higher chemical and other water-treatment costs.

Administrative and general expenses for first quarter of 2014 were $20.2 million as compared to $17.9 million for the same period in 2013. Out of the $3.1 million one-time recovery of previous incurred cost I recorded in the first quarter of last year, $1.7 million was related to previously incurred in A&G expenses. There was also an increase in approximately $900,000 in water surcharges, recorded as revenue during the first quarter of 2014, which had a corresponding increase of $90,000 in A&G expenses.

Excluding these two items, A&G expenses actually decreased by $300,000 during the first quarter of 2014 due primarily to an overall decrease in company-wide outside services costs. Our maintenance expense decreased by $445,000, driven by a decrease in maintenance work at our water segment. We expect maintenance expenses for the water segment to be lower in 2014 as compared to 2013, as we had done additional plant maintenance work in 2013 above prior years.

Depreciation and amortization expense increased by $714,000 to $10.5 million, for the first quarter of 2014, as compared to the same period in 2013. Driven mostly by $93 million of additions to utility plants during 2013. Property and other taxes increased by $177,000 compared to the same quarter in 2013, due to increases in property taxes and franchise fees. ASUS construction expenses decreased by $7.3 million to $13.5 million during the first quarter of 2014 as compared to the same period in 2013. The decrease is primarily due to lower renewal and replacement construction activity, as I discussed earlier.

Other income and expenses, including interest expense, increased slightly to $5.4 million for the first quarter of 2014. Income tax expense decreased by $2.9 million to $6.4 million as compared to the same period in 2013. This decrease was driven by lower pretax income and a lower effective tax rate for the quarter. Due to changes between books and taxable income, from [pro-e] benefit related items that are treated as the flow-through adjustments.

Moving onto liquidity and capital resources, net cash provided by operating activity increased by $9.9 million to $40.9 million for the first quarter of 2014 as compared to $31 million for the same period last year. This increase was primarily due to the rate increases incremented in May 2013. And the collection of various surcharges also incremented in mid-2013, in connection with the CPUC's final decision on the water rate case.

In addition, there was an increase in cash generated by contracting services due to the timing of buildings and cash receipts for construction work at military bases during the first quarter of 2014. These increases in cash flow from operating activities were partially offset by tax refunds that we received during the first quarter of last year. We didn't have similar refunds received in 2014.

In regards to Golden State Water's capital expenditures, we incurred $13.4 million, excluding work funded by others due the first quarter, we still expect to invest $80 million to $90 million in capital projects during 2014. For additional details on our first quarter's performance, please refer to our earnings release and form 10-Q issued yesterday. With that, I'll turn the call over to Bob.

Thank you Eva. Hello everyone. I appreciate all of you joining us today.

Our regulated water business continues to be our flagship subsidiary. We are currently working on our next general rate case filing. And we intend to file for all of our water rate making areas in the general office in July of this year for new rates, effective in January 2016.

With regard to our electric division, we have been in settlement negotiations with all of the parties in the general rate case. Those negotiations have resulted in an agreement in principle and we anticipate that a settlement agreement will be filed with the California Public Utilities Commission in the second quarter. A final decision on this rate case is expected in late 2014.

We continually look for ways to improve efficiency and manage our operating expenses to mitigate future rate increases. Over the past two years we have stabilize costs and decreased expense volatility. Such as redeeming certain long-term notes and replacing them with lower rate notes, and closing the Company's defined benefit pension plan to new hires and implementing a defined-contribution retirement plan instead.

Certain functions that had previously been performed in-house were outsourced at reduced costs because the outside vendors had economies of scale that we could not match. In addition, we have reduced staff by about 4% and continue to adjust while balancing customer service and cost. We are committed to continuously evaluating our processes to reduce rate increases to our customers, while allowing us to make prudent capital investments.

As you may know, in March, our Board of Directors approved a stock repurchase program authorizing the repurchase of up to 1.25 million common shares through June 30, 2016. The intent of this program is to enable the company to achieve a shareholders equity ratio for the consolidated company that is more reflective of appropriate equity ratios for our two subsidiaries, Golden State Water, and ASUS.

The higher equity ratio for the consolidated company is partly a result of the sale in May 2011 of our Arizona subsidiary, Chaparral City Water Company, where we received approximately $30 million in cash at closing. Since the sale, our parent company has used this cash to repay borrowings under our revolving credit facility and invest in, or lend to, our two remaining subsidiaries.

Based upon current expectations, including the projected infrastructure needs for Golden State Water, and the expected growth of ASUS, which is not capital intensive, we do not anticipate the need for a secondary common stock offering in the near term. We intend to initiate the repurchase program in mid-May at the earliest.

Now I'd like to briefly provide an update on the drought situation here in California. As you may know, in January of this year, the Governor of California, declared a drought state of emergency after the driest year on record for California. He recently issued an executive order to strengthen the state's ability to manage water and also called on all Californians to re-double their water conservation efforts. In response, we've asked customers to voluntarily reduce their water usage by 20%. If dry conditions continue, we may also need to implement mandatory water rationing to our customers.

As you all know, the California Public Utilities Commission has authorized us to establish revenue adjustment mechanisms to decouple revenues from sales to ensure that conservation does not negatively impact our earnings and to allow us to continue running our operations and make the necessary capital investments.

Now let's discuss the company's contracted services business at ASUS. For the three months ended March 31, 2014, earnings from ASUS decreased as compared to the same period in 2013, primarily due to lower planned renewal and replacement construction activities. While renewal and replacement activity will continue to vary period to period for all bases, we do anticipate the renewal and replacement activity to increase throughout the remainder of 2014, as compared to the first quarter of this year.

ASUS continues to work closely with the government on the various price re-determinations for each of the military bases. We expect the second price re-determination at Fort Bragg in North Carolina to be completed during the second quarter of 2014. And expect the second and third price re-determinations for Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland and the second price re-determination for the military bases in Virginia to be completed in the third quarter of 2014. In addition, the first price re-determination for Fort Jackson in South Carolina is expected to be completed in late 2014.

Filings for these price re-determinations, requests per equitable adjustment and contract modifications awarded for new projects, provide ASUS with additional revenues and margin and the opportunity to consistently generate positive earnings. We also continue to work closely with the US government for contract modifications relating to potential capital upgrade work as deemed necessary for improvement of the water and wastewater infrastructure at the military bases. In addition, we are actively engaged in new proposals and expect the US government to release additional basis for bidding over the next several years.

In regard to ASUS's outlook for the remainder of 2014, there are several variables that impact this business which makes it difficult to predict its earnings with much certainty. With that said, let me provide some comments on where we think the full year 2014 could come out relative to ASUS's 2013 results.

Excluding a one-time tax benefit of $0.03 per share, earnings from ASUS were $0.27 per share for the full year 2013. While we have a few large projects winding down in 2014, we anticipate renewal and replacement activity to increase throughout the remainder of 2014, that's previously discussed. In addition, we expect to have a number of new construction projects for 2014, though individually, probably not as large in size as the ones rolling off.

As just mentioned, we also have various price re-determination filings pending with the US government. All of which we anticipate to be resolved during 2014. Assuming successful resolution of these re-determinations, and the anticipated increase in renewal and replacement activity, we believe full year 2014 earnings should look a lot like 2013 after removal of the one-time tax benefit from 2013 earnings.

Turning our attention to dividend. Two days ago on May 5, the Board of Directors approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.2025 per share. American States Water Company has paid dividends every year since 1931. Increasing the dividend received by shareholders each calendar year since 1954. Given American States current low payout ratio compared with its peers, there is room to grow the dividend in the future.

Before I close with my prepared remarks I'd like to thank you for your interest in American States Water. And I'll now turn the call to the operator for questions.

(Operator Instructions)

Ryan Conners, Janney Capital Markets.

Hi Bob and Eva. This is actually Ken standing in for Ryan. My first question is regarding ASUS and I'm just curious as far as the large projects are concerned, are they still on track to roll off in the second quarter and if so, can we expect a similar level of construction activity from them in the second quarter as we saw in the first?

Yes. They are expected -- those projects -- the projects I guess we're talking about is the $58 million water and wastewater pipeline replacement project, the backflow preventer meter project and the work at Patriot Point. The plan is for all of them to be completed by the end of the second quarter.

And what we expect to see I guess is with the pickup in the renewal and replacement, that, that -- we should see an increase in construction for the rest of the year. So the works from, the construction work from those projects-- that will drop off a little bit but we believe the renewal and replacement work will pick up.

Perfect. And then just shifting to the price re-determination's that you mentioned in your prepared remarks, Bob, I recalled reading in the -- I think it was in the 10K, that they were expected to be completed in the first quarter and now you're hearing kind of second to third quarter area.

I'm just curious, as far as them related to your expectations for ASUS, what the level of materiality with that as far as the ASUS contribution? Does that impact your expectations for ASUS as it stood four months ago? How should we think about that?

Well, there is significant contributors to the overall performance of ASUS. In some cases or in many cases there are components associated with retroactive back to when the price re-determination should have been completed. In other words, it's sort of predetermined when you take over a contract when you're supposed to have your re-determination's completed and any re-determination you get generally is retroactive back to that point.

So these are behind schedule. Some of that, or a lot of that has to do with the fact that the government while you recall what sort of transpired last year during sequestration et cetera. And government has -- in fact probably less people working on this and it's taking longer than what we had originally thought but we are seeing progress. So though it's been delayed a bit, we do think we're going to get it to the finish line in 2014.

And Ken, also most of those pending re-determinations also have interest rates in place that go back to the effective date. So we do have some increases along the way. It's just we're waiting for the final decision to see what the impact will be.

Yes. So if we do have some retroactive recognition, it would be above the intro increase. That's a good point Eva.

That's great color. I appreciate that. And just my final question is more big picture strategy I guess. Obviously, ASUS or has garnered a lot of attention from the investment community because of your success there and the amount of projects coming on. But if you look outside of that, what do you guys most excited about from a growth opportunity? Would be something like expanding to wastewater in your regulated business or perhaps offering electric services on military bases?

Well, we -- over time you will see that the rate base for Golden State Water will continue to grow as we replace the needed pipes. So that's -- we are going to see the water utility continue to grow, probably at the kinds of rates we've seen in the past.

Beyond that, we are considering possibly offering electric opportunities at the military bases that we serve. We have to -- we do have that expertise because of our Bear Valley electric component and a lot of times when you get into these businesses, it's a bit like the utility business in that you need to know the operating side of things but you also need to know how you get price increases et cetera.

And we feel like we do know that for ASUS so we are very interested in expanding that business both from a water or wastewater standpoint and we'd like to sort of test the market on electric side and see if that's something we can expand the Company with.

Great. Thanks so much for your time, Bob and Eva.

Jonathan Reeder, Wells Fargo.

I was wondering if you could talk a little about what's being done to address the water supply shortage in California and the fact it's kind of been an ongoing situation now for a few years on the supply side? And how that might relate to potentially accelerated rate base growth for you.

Well, we are trying to -- I mean, we continue to make sure that our -- that we can pump all of our water rights first of all. And that means we've got to make sure that all of our pumps are working and our wells are working like they are supposed to. And you've done a good job with that in the past but it is a continued focus. And as you know, Jonathan, the cost to customers for pumped water is less expensive than us buying water from MWD.

Now on sort of the wholesale front, MWD has been spending money to expand their regional portfolio of water storage capabilities in Southern California which I believe has helped them during this particular drought situation because they have expanded their local inventory from maybe where it was five or so years ago.

Beyond that, we haven't done -- we really haven't done much beyond that other than trying to pump what we can pump. And obviously we're one Company that is -- I think distinguished itself from others and making sure that we have perfected the water rights and that allows us then to continue to pump where we need to.

Is there any opportunity for you guys to build your own water storage capabilities? Or what about desalination plants and how close are those two being basically economic -- I know the lead-time on them are fairly long. So I would think as you need to get the ball rolling to address the problem in the next five to seven years or something?

Right. No, we have had discussions with Poseidon Resources which I think as you know is the company that's putting the de-sal plant in Carlsbad. They also are looking to put one in, in Huntington Beach and are trying to go through the permitting process there. It does take a long time though to go through the process. Permitting is difficult in California, probably more so than other places.

But I think as you see water supply issues continuing to gain ground in California, you might see more relaxation of pushback on permitting desalination plants. And you are right, the crossover point between what we can buy wholesale water for and what de-sal water sells at, getting closer everyday, so it is a possibility.

We have not subscribed for the water from Poseidon at this point. In addition, there's this Cadiz project that's in the desert that we have been -- we have an option on at this point that we're working through with Cadiz. Some of the other water utilities in Southern California are also looking into that project. So beyond that, we don't have any plans to build additional infrastructure at this point to solve the water supply shortages.

And so far from the Legislature, the Governor, or the Commission, there hasn't been an effort to promote things on the supply side? It's all kind of demand-side related?

Well, it --

I guess then, it the State Water Project.

Yes. Did you except for the State Water Project?

Right. I mean, they are not encouraging the investor-owned utilities to pursue projects, necessarily then.

We haven't seen that. We bring a big -- if we bring I think a reasonable, a well thought-out plan to the commission, I have no reason to think that they wouldn't approve something like that.

Each rate case Jonathan if we have a potential to drill a new well that would have the water rights to meet that demand, then we're filing our rate case and justify for it. So as consumption comes down from customers, our supplier has a bigger portion from our own well water then purchase from MWD. So, we -- to the extent we can justify drilling new well in service areas, we'll do.

Okay. And then the last question I had, I'm just kind of curious going through the queue, it said that the parent borrowed $24 million under the credit facility to provide ASUS. Is that just to fund some working capital or what might that be related to?

Yes. It wasn't really an additional demand from ASUS. But in fact what we did was borrowed money from the line and loaned it to ASUS and previously we had money loaned from the Company to ASUS. This will then create some cash for the parent company to then use for the repurchase program.

It is for the working cash of ASUS.

Yes. The amount we have loaned to ASUS is for working capital for ASUS. ASUS is not a capital intensive business but because it's got substantial contracts with the government, it does have to have working capital to balance receivables.

All right. Okay. I appreciate the additional details.

Thanks Jonathan.

(Operator Instructions)

Richard Verti, Landenberg.

Hi Bob. Hi Eva. How are you guys doing?

Good. Thank you.

Bob, as most of my questions have already been answered but I had a follow-up questions to one already asked. If ASUS decides to pursue the electric opportunity -- there are a lot of basis going to be auctioned here in the next couple of years. What would be the strategy? Could you just talk a little bit about how the Company might pursue that opportunity?

Sure. I think where it would start probably would be at a base that we're currently at from a water or wastewater standpoint and kind of get our feet wet doing that. There's been -- I won't go into specifics here but at least one base has come out and asked us to consider operating the electric system.

And so if we can maybe do that on a -- I don't want to say pilot basis, because you don't do pilots for 50 years. But do it on a smaller base and just make sure that it works for us because we are a pretty conservative company. Then we can be looking at possibly bidding on water, wastewater, and electric in some of the bids that should be coming out here soon.

Okay. Great. That's it for me. Thank you.

Thank you Richard.

Tim Winter, Gabelli and Company.

Good afternoon Bob and Eva.

Hi Tim.

Just following up on clarifying the water supply situation. You've asked for a 20% reduction, is that because you're following the state's request? Or are you yourselves having supply issues?

We are following the state's request and currently not having any major supply issues. There's a couple of smaller areas that we serve with underground basins that, it's possible that we may have to do some rationing there but generally, we're in fairly good shape for 2014.

Okay. And then, as far as your share buyback and your cash flow situation, what is your CapEx budget over the next few years? How much is being allocated to water supply?

Of our capital plan?

Yes.

Well, the capital budget for 2014 is $80 million to $90 million. A lot of that is pipe replacement. Offhand, I can't tell you exactly what the water supply piece of that is but we'd be happy to get back to you with that.

Okay. And then as far as your operating cash flow and the dividend, are you just to the point where you're basically self-funding? That's why you're in a position to repurchase shares?

The repurchase of the shares really is driven by the fact that we have too much equity at the Company. And whenever your overall equity ratio gets out of whack with what's appropriate for your two subsidiaries, makes sense to -- we feel like we're leaving money on the table. So feel like we need to buy some shares back and get the equity ratio down.

With that said, our net cash at the overall Company is, I think $51 million at the end of the first quarter if you take the cash balance of -- I want to say $75 million and our borrowings of $24 million. So we also have substantial cash but it's mostly an equity issue rather than a cash -- too much cash.

Okay. Is it primarily stemming from the $30 million from Chaparral or do you --

That's right. And it's really the equity left over from Chaparral. We have -- I want to say for the $25 million to $30 million of shareholders equity that we basically had in that company and then when we sold the company, we got that in the form of cash and equities and at this point we still have the equity. So the goal is to -- because our cash is strong too, is to reduce the equity balance for the overall company.

And as Bob mentioned Tim, as you [attaching] a low capital need operation for us. So at the time we saw Chaparral we didn't feel comfortable to do anything right away just to make sure ASUS growth is there, we can supported it. But as it turned out, they really just need a lot of 90-day working cash kind of a turnover. So I think we should do this rather than leave cash on the table.

Okay. And just one last follow-up, I mean, given the situation, are there are smaller utilities contiguous to you that are being stressed with the water supplies issues that are coming to you for help? Or is that --

We really haven't seen that at this point. A lot of our service territory is in Southern California as you know. A lot of the areas that have been impacted by the drought, interestingly enough, is in the northern part of the state. And so -- and we're in good shape there. So I think in, and around, Sacramento, is probably the only area where we've probably seen a situation where we've had areas contiguous to us that are having water issues.

Thank you guys.

Okay.

(Operator Instructions)

As there are no further questions, that does conclude the question and answer session. I will now hand back to Mr. Sprowls for any closing remarks.

Okay thank you Nikki. Again I just wanted to thank everyone for their participation today and their continued interest and investment in American States Water Company and wish you all a good day.

Thank you. This concludes American States Water Company's conference call. As a reminder, the call will be archived on our website and can be replayed beginning Wednesday, May 7, 2014 at 5:00 PM Eastern time, 2:00 PM Pacific time and will run through Wednesday, May 14, 2014. Thank you for your participation.