New Jersey Resources Corp (NJR) 2023 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the New Jersey Resources Fiscal 2023 Second Quarter Conference Call and Webcast. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode, and please be advised that this call is being recorded. After the speaker's prepared remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions). And now at this time, I would like to turn things over to Mr. Adam Prior, Director of Investor Relations. Mr. Prior, please go ahead, sir.

早上好，女士們，先生們。歡迎來到 New Jersey Resources 2023 財年第二季度電話會議和網絡廣播。此時，所有與會者都處於只聽模式，請注意本次通話正在錄音中。在演講者準備好的發言之後，將進行問答環節。 （操作員說明）。現在這個時候，我想把事情交給投資者關係總監 Adam Prior 先生。普萊爾先生，請繼續。

Thank you. Welcome to New Jersey Resources Fiscal 2023 Second Quarter Conference Call and Webcast. I am joined here today by Steve Westhoven, our President and CEO; Roberto Bel, our Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; as well as other members of our senior management team. Certain statements in today's conference call contain estimates and other forward-looking statements within the meaning of the securities laws. We wish to caution listeners of this call that the current expectations, assumptions and beliefs forming the basis for our forward-looking statements include many factors that are beyond our ability to control or estimate precisely. This could cause results to materially differ from our expectations as found in Slide 1. These items can also be found in the forward-looking statements section of today's earnings release furnished on Form 8-K and in our most recent Forms 10-K and 10-Q as filed with the SEC. We do not, by including this statement, assume any obligation to review or revise any particular forward-looking statement referenced herein in light of future events. We will also be referring to certain non-GAAP financial measures such as net financial earnings or NFE. We believe that NFE (net financial loss), utility gross margin and financial margin provide a more complete understanding of our financial performance. However, these non-GAAP measures are not intended to be a substitute for GAAP. Our non-GAAP financial measures are discussed more fully in Item 7 of our 10-K. The slides accompanying today's presentation are available on our website and were furnished on our Form 8-K filed this morning. Our agenda for today is found on Slide 3. Steve will begin with this quarter's highlight, followed by Roberto, who will review our financial results. Then we will open it up for your questions. With that said, I will turn the call over to our President and CEO, Steve Westhoven. Please go ahead, Steve.

謝謝。歡迎來到 New Jersey Resources 2023 財年第二季度電話會議和網絡廣播。今天，我們的總裁兼首席執行官 Steve Westhoven 和我一起來到這裡；我們的高級副總裁兼首席財務官 Roberto Bel；以及我們高級管理團隊的其他成員。今天電話會議中的某些陳述包含證券法含義內的估計和其他前瞻性陳述。我們希望提醒本次電話會議的聽眾，構成我們前瞻性陳述基礎的當前預期、假設和信念包括許多我們無法控製或準確估計的因素。這可能導致結果與我們在幻燈片 1 中的預期存在重大差異。這些項目也可以在 8-K 表格和我們最近的 10-K 表格和 10 表格中提供的今天收益發布的前瞻性陳述部分找到-Q 提交給美國證券交易委員會。通過包含此聲明，我們不承擔任何義務根據未來事件審查或修改此處引用的任何特定前瞻性聲明。我們還將參考某些非 GAAP 財務指標，例如淨財務收益或 NFE。我們認為 NFE（淨財務損失）、公用事業毛利率和財務利潤率可以更全面地了解我們的財務業績。但是，這些非 GAAP 措施無意替代 GAAP。我們的 10-K 項目 7 中更全面地討論了我們的非 GAAP 財務措施。今天演示文稿的幻燈片可在我們的網站上找到，並在我們今天早上提交的 8-K 表格中提供。我們今天的議程見幻燈片 3。史蒂夫將從本季度的亮點開始，然後是羅伯托，他將審查我們的財務業績。然後我們將打開它來回答您的問題。話雖如此，我將把電話轉給我們的總裁兼首席執行官史蒂夫韋斯特霍文。請繼續，史蒂夫。

Thanks, Adam, and good morning, everyone. We had another solid quarter executing our strategy and delivering results in line with our expectations. In addition, we are reiterating our fiscal 2023 NFEPS guidance range of $2.62 to $2.72 per share. Overall, we reported net financial earnings of $1.16 per share in the second quarter of this year. During the first calendar quarter, much of the eastern half of the country experienced the warmest weather in recorded history. But remember, our utility New Jersey Natural Gas decoupled, meaning the utility gross margin is insulated from changes due to weather and customer usage. We continue to see a trend in strong customer growth at New Jersey Natural Gas and achieved higher utility gross margin for the period. In addition, we were able to provide cost savings to our customers by issuing a bill credit and lowering rates following the recent decrease in natural gas prices. We will continue to monitor market conditions and use our expertise to manage costs and provide savings to our customers whenever possible. At CEV, we placed an additional 6 commercial solar projects into service, growing our installed capacity by over 13% since the end of our fiscal year. This increases our total solar in service to 440 megawatts. In our storage and transportation business, we benefited from solid operating performance for the Adelphia Gateway and Leaf River and continue to explore potential organic growth opportunities to maximize those assets. And finally, although the winter was unusually warm, which resulted in lower energy usage, Energy Services generated another profitable quarter.

謝謝，亞當，大家早上好。我們有另一個穩定的季度執行我們的戰略並交付符合我們預期的結果。此外，我們重申 2023 財年 NFEPS 指導範圍為每股 2.62 美元至 2.72 美元。總體而言，我們報告今年第二季度每股淨財務收益為 1.16 美元。在第一個日曆季度，該國東半部的大部分地區經歷了有記錄以來最溫暖的天氣。但請記住，我們的公用事業新澤西天然氣脫鉤，這意味著公用事業毛利率不受天氣和客戶使用引起的變化的影響。我們繼續看到新澤西天然氣公司強勁的客戶增長趨勢，並在此期間實現了更高的公用事業毛利率。此外，在近期天然氣價格下跌後，我們能夠通過簽發票據信用和降低費率來為客戶節省成本。我們將繼續監控市場狀況，並利用我們的專業知識來管理成本，並儘可能為我們的客戶節省開支。在 CEV，我們將另外 6 個商業太陽能項目投入使用，自本財年結束以來，我們的裝機容量增加了 13% 以上。這使我們的總太陽能發電量增加到 440 兆瓦。在我們的倉儲和運輸業務中，我們受益於 Adelphia Gateway 和 Leaf River 的穩健經營業績，並繼續探索潛在的有機增長機會，以最大限度地利用這些資產。最後，儘管冬季異常溫暖，導致能源使用量減少，但能源服務部門又創造了一個盈利的季度。

Turning to Slide 5. As I noted earlier, we are reiterating our fiscal 2023 NFEPS guidance range of $2.62 to $2.72 per share. We initially raised this guidance by $0.20 following our first quarter results due to higher contribution from New Jersey Natural Gas and outperformance at Energy Services during the winter storm Elliott in December of last year. Our expected long-term NFEPS growth rate remains at 7% to 9% from our original 2022 guidance, and we expect to be in the higher end of that range for fiscal '24. New Jersey Natural Gas had a strong quarter, as highlighted on Slide 6. We invested $195 million in New Jersey Natural Gas during the first 6 months of fiscal 2023, with over 37% of that CapEx providing near real-time returns. We reported strong customer growth, adding over 4000 new customers in the first 6 months of the year compared to approximately 3600 customers during the same period last year. As indicated on prior calls, we expect to file our next rate case in fiscal 2024, consistent with the timeline of our major technology investments.

轉到幻燈片 5。正如我之前提到的，我們重申我們的 2023 財年 NFEPS 指導範圍為每股 2.62 美元至 2.72 美元。由於新澤西天然氣的貢獻增加以及去年 12 月冬季風暴埃利奧特期間能源服務的出色表現，我們最初將這一指導提高了 0.20 美元。我們預期的長期 NFEPS 增長率與我們最初的 2022 年指引相比仍保持在 7% 至 9%，我們預計 24 財年將處於該範圍的較高端。正如幻燈片 6 所強調的那樣，新澤西天然氣公司的季度表現強勁。我們在 2023 財年的前 6 個月向新澤西天然氣公司投資了 1.95 億美元，其中超過 37% 的資本支出提供了近乎實時的回報。我們報告了強勁的客戶增長，今年前 6 個月增加了超過 4000 名新客戶，而去年同期約為 3600 名客戶。正如之前的電話所示，我們預計將在 2024 財年提交下一個利率案例，這與我們主要技術投資的時間表一致。

Moving to Slide 7. We continue to see positive momentum at Clean Energy Ventures. Since the end of fiscal 2022, we have placed 53 megawatts of new solar projects into service. We continue to maintain a robust and diverse pipeline of solar investments in various stages of development, including greenfield and late-stage projects both within and outside of New Jersey. And we continue to innovate producing clean renewable energy through the repurposing of landfills and deployment of milestone floating solar arrays. Over the past few months, we have seen progress in New Jersey's solar policy. In December, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities approved the state's competitive solar incentive CSI program for projects over 5 megawatts. Through this program, New Jersey seeks to award 300 megawatts of solar projects per year. Although specific timing results are still to be determined, we see that the CSI program is another sign of New Jersey’s continued commitment to its renewable energy targets.

轉到幻燈片 7。我們繼續看到 Clean Energy Ventures 的積極勢頭。自 2022 財年末以來，我們已將 53 兆瓦的新太陽能項目投入使用。我們繼續在各個開發階段保持穩健和多樣化的太陽能投資渠道，包括新澤西州內外的綠地和後期項目。我們通過重新利用垃圾填埋場和部署具有里程碑意義的浮動太陽能電池陣列，繼續創新生產清潔的可再生能源。在過去的幾個月裡，我們看到了新澤西州太陽能政策的進展。 12 月，新澤西州公用事業委員會批准了該州針對 5 兆瓦以上項目的競爭性太陽能激勵 CSI 計劃。通過該計劃，新澤西州尋求每年授予 300 兆瓦的太陽能項目。雖然具體的時間結果仍有待確定，但我們看到 CSI 計劃是新澤西州繼續致力於實現其可再生能源目標的另一個標誌。

With that, I will turn the call over to Roberto for a review of the financial results. Roberto.

有了這個，我將把電話轉給羅伯托，讓他審查財務結果。羅伯托。

Thank you, Steve, and good morning, everyone. Slide 9 shows the main drivers of our NFE for the second quarter and first half of fiscal 2023. For the first half of fiscal 2023, we reported a strong year-over-year improvement in our consolidated results. Year-to-date, NFE was $22.6 million or $0.30 per share compared with $196 million or $2.04 per share last year. This represents a 13% improvement in our net financial earnings per share for the period. For the second quarter of fiscal 2023, we reported NFE of $112.3 million or $1.16 per share compared with $130.2 million or $0.36 per share last year. Through the quarter, higher utility gross margin at New Year's Natural Gas and higher revenues at our S&T and CEV businesses were more than offset by higher depreciation and interest expenses, which now include the impact of Adelphia Gateway being fully placed into service, lower financial margin at Energy Services, higher expenses related to our IT investments and a $5 million difference in the timing of incentive compensation accruals related to our NPL performance earlier this year.

謝謝你，史蒂夫，大家早上好。幻燈片 9 顯示了 2023 財年第二季度和上半年 NFE 的主要驅動因素。在 2023 財年上半年，我們的綜合業績同比有了強勁改善。年初至今，NFE 為 2260 萬美元或每股 0.30 美元，而去年為 1.96 億美元或每股 2.04 美元。這意味著我們在此期間的每股淨財務收益提高了 13%。對於 2023 財年第二季度，我們報告的 NFE 為 1.123 億美元或每股 1.16 美元，而去年為 1.302 億美元或每股 0.36 美元。整個季度，New Year's Natural Gas 較高的公用事業毛利率以及我們 S&T 和 CEV 業務的較高收入被較高的折舊和利息支出所抵消，現在包括 Adelphia Gateway 完全投入使用的影響、較低的財務利潤率在 Energy Services，與我們的 IT 投資相關的更高費用以及與我們今年早些時候的不良貸款業績相關的激勵性薪酬應計時間差異 500 萬美元。

Turning to our capital plan on Slide 10. As we have said before, for fiscal year 2023 and 2024, we expect to invest between $1.1 billion and $1.4 billion across the company, and our capital plan remains on track to achieve these investment levels. We expect to tighten our CapEx ranges in future quarters, specifically at CEV as (inaudible) interconnection (inaudible) and the regulatory outcomes on certain New Jersey projects become more clear. We are comfortable with the lower end of our CEV CapEx range for fiscal 2023 and have a number of opportunities that could move us toward the higher end. Our capital projections for fiscal '23 and '24 are anchored by strong cash flow from operations and consistent with our long-term NFEPS growth target of 7% to 9%. And while we have no plans to issue block equity, our existing (inaudible) reinvestment program includes a waiver discount feature that allows us to raise equity on an opportunistic basis. With that, I will turn the call back to Steve.

轉到我們在幻燈片 10 上的資本計劃。正如我們之前所說，在 2023 和 2024 財年，我們預計將在整個公司投資 11 億美元至 14 億美元，我們的資本計劃仍有望實現這些投資水平。我們預計在未來幾個季度收緊我們的資本支出範圍，特別是在 CEV 作為（聽不清）互連（聽不清）和某些新澤西項目的監管結果變得更加清晰。我們對 2023 財年 CEV 資本支出範圍的低端感到滿意，並且有許多機會可以使我們走向高端。我們對 23 財年和 24 財年的資本預測以強勁的運營現金流為基礎，並與我們 7% 至 9% 的長期 NFEPS 增長目標一致。雖然我們沒有發行大宗股權的計劃，但我們現有的（聽不清）再投資計劃包括豁免折扣功能，使我們能夠在機會主義的基礎上籌集股權。有了這個，我會把電話轉回給史蒂夫。

Thanks, Roberto. Turning to Slide 11. In March, New Jersey’s Governor, Phil Murphy, announced a series of executive orders with revised plans and targets for the state's clean energy future. We embrace our company's role in transitioning the state to cleaner forms of energy and reaching long-term carbon emissions reduction goals. NJR has been working toward decarbonization and a cleaner energy future for many years, and it's executing on our strategy to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. With the strong encouragement of the state, we have invested billions to reduce emissions through energy efficiency, modernize our infrastructure and advance technological innovation. We have had preliminary discussions with the state policymakers. We will continue to collaborate with our regulators and other utilities in the state as these processes unfold. In conclusion, NJR is an energy infrastructure company focusing on meeting the needs of our customers as well as aligning with the clean energy future. The reaffirmation of our guidance range and long-term growth rates reflects the strength of our complementary portfolio of businesses. But I also want to thank all of our employees for their hard work and contribution. With that, I will now open the call for questions.

謝謝，羅伯托。轉到幻燈片 11。3 月，新澤西州州長菲爾墨菲宣布了一系列行政命令，其中包含針對該州清潔能源未來的修訂計劃和目標。我們欣然接受我們公司在將國家轉變為更清潔的能源形式和實現長期碳減排目標方面的作用。 NJR 多年來一直致力於脫碳和清潔能源的未來，並且正在執行我們大幅減少溫室氣體排放的戰略。在國家的大力鼓勵下，我們已投資數十億美元通過提高能源效率來減少排放、實現基礎設施現代化和推進技術創新。我們已經與國家決策者進行了初步討論。隨著這些進程的展開，我們將繼續與我們的監管機構和該州的其他公用事業公司合作。總之，新日本無線是一家能源基礎設施公司，專注於滿足客戶的需求並與清潔能源的未來保持一致。我們的指導範圍和長期增長率的重申反映了我們互補業務組合的實力。但我也要感謝我們所有員工的辛勤工作和貢獻。有了這個，我現在將開始提問。

Thank you, Ms. Westhoven. (Operator Instructions). We will take our first question this morning from Mr. Richard Sunderland of JP Morgan.

謝謝你，Westhoven 女士。 （操作員說明）。今天上午，我們將從摩根大通的理查德桑德蘭先生那裡回答我們的第一個問題。

Good morning. Thank you for the time today. Starting with CEV. You saw the shift in CEVs pipeline from New Jersey to out of state. Curious if you could speak to how the regional efforts are unfolding and how you see the relative attractiveness of opportunities out of state versus in-state at this point and particularly compared back to your expectations a few years ago when you launched this broader initiative.

早上好。謝謝你今天的時間。從 CEV 開始。您看到了 CEV 管道從新澤西州轉移到州外的情況。想知道您是否可以談談區域努力是如何展開的，以及此時您如何看待州外與州內機會的相對吸引力，特別是與幾年前您發起這項更廣泛倡議時的期望相比。

Yes, Richard, thanks for the question. If you go back to our 2020 Investor Day, we highlighted that we have a strategy going forward to diversify our solar investments outside of the state of New Jersey. And that was really based on our ability and the capability that we have built here in the company to be able to invest in this place and certainly provide returns. And then also a little bit of a diversification outside of the state of New Jersey. I think it is healthy. It accomplished capital (inaudible) projects and being able to get the highest return. Remember that as we look outside the state, we look for a similar risk profile, the one that really aligns with our overall company to make sure that the structure really fits in, simulate subsidies that are REC credits or feed-in tariffs and things like that. The percentage seems to be around the 50-40 level, and we expect that to continue to go forward. So really, a shift that we expected as plan (inaudible) strategy, and overall, you are seeing some of the success by some of the investments outside of the state of New Jersey.

是的，理查德，謝謝你的提問。如果你回到我們的 2020 年投資者日，我們強調我們有一項戰略，要在新澤西州以外的地區分散我們的太陽能投資。這實際上是基於我們的能力和我們在公司這裡建立的能力，能夠在這個地方投資並肯定提供回報。然後在新澤西州以外也有一些多元化。我認為這是健康的。它完成了資本（聽不清）項目並能夠獲得最高回報。請記住，當我們在州外尋找類似的風險狀況時，我們會尋找與我們整個公司真正一致的風險狀況，以確保結構真正適合，模擬 REC 信用或上網電價補貼等補貼那。該百分比似乎在 50-40 左右，我們預計該百分比將繼續向前發展。所以真的，我們預期作為計劃（聽不清）戰略的轉變，總的來說，你看到新澤西州以外的一些投資取得了一些成功。

Got it. That is very helpful context there. Just a quick follow-up on that front. So in consideration of what you are seeing here in those balance of opportunities, could you just revisit again what you are looking for in kind of revising the CapEx outlook here, particularly what exactly would move you to the high end in consideration of both New Jersey and these regional opportunities?

知道了。那是非常有用的上下文。只是在這方面的快速跟進。因此，考慮到您在這些機會平衡中所看到的情況，您是否可以再次重新審視您正在尋找的內容，以修改此處的資本支出前景，特別是考慮到新澤西州，究竟是什麼會讓您走向高端？以及這些區域機會？

Yes. I think for this year, we stayed in the range of our CapEx expectations. We feel comfortable at the lower end of the range. Still have a lot of the fiscal year lag. And we have got some decent amount of deal flow through this space, waiting for regulatory approvals and permits and things like that. So we stay in the range for what it is, but we see potentials to be within that range through the end of the year, if that is helpful to answer your question.

是的。我認為今年，我們保持在我們的資本支出預期範圍內。我們在範圍的低端感覺很舒服。仍然有很多財政年度滯後。我們已經通過這個領域獲得了相當數量的交易流，等待監管部門的批准和許可以及類似的事情。因此，我們保持在目前的範圍內，但如果這有助於回答您的問題，我們認為到今年年底可能會在該範圍內。

Got it, certainly. And then shifting gears, could you parse the storage and transportation results a little more finely? Curious what drove the year-over-year decline? And considering you have had some of the, I guess, hub services outperformance over the past few quarters. Is this now more of a normalized quarterly base for 2Q at least?

明白了，當然。然後換檔，你能更精細地解析存儲和運輸結果嗎？好奇是什麼導致了同比下降？考慮到你在過去幾個季度中有一些樞紐服務表現出色。現在至少是第二季度的標準化季度基數嗎？

So I am going to ask Roberto to take that question. There is a little bit of a transition from construction going to an active operations.

所以我要請羅伯托回答這個問題。從建設到積極運營有一點過渡。

Yes. Rich, this is Roberto. So I think that the more helpful way to look at this is on a year-to-date basis. And year-to-date, actually, the business unit is (inaudible). And when you part it out and break it into pieces, you will see that revenues are actually dramatically up. And what is affecting the quarter in particular, you have higher depreciation and amortization because remember, Adelphia came into service at the end of last fiscal year and you have higher interest expenses, and we do not have any more (inaudible) equity. So when you read it from that perspective, we are actually doing better than last year, and the complexion of those earnings are much better. All of this discussion is now compared to some non-cash (inaudible) we had the year before.

是的。里奇，這是羅伯托。所以我認為更有幫助的方法是從年初至今的基礎上來看待這個問題。實際上，從年初至今，該業務部門是（聽不清）。當你把它分開並分解成小塊時，你會發現收入實際上急劇增加。尤其是影響本季度的因素是，您有更高的折舊和攤銷，因為請記住，Adelphia 在上個財政年度末投入使用，您的利息支出更高，而且我們沒有更多（聽不清）的股本。所以當你從那個角度來看時，我們實際上比去年做得更好，而且這些收益的情況要好得多。現在將所有這些討論與我們前一年的一些非現金（聽不清）進行比較。

Got it. That was very clear. Thank you for that and thank you for the time today.

知道了。這很清楚。謝謝你，也謝謝你今天抽出時間來。

Thanks, Richard.

謝謝，理查德。

[Operator instruction]. We go next now to Travis Miller at Morningstar.

[操作員說明]。接下來我們去晨星的特拉維斯米勒。

Thank you. Good Morning. Given that the first half fiscal year performance here so far and thinking about the high end of the range, any thoughts on pulling forward any kind of cost or investments? Is that a possibility? Is that something you are thinking about from 2024 to set that up?

謝謝。早上好。鑑於到目前為止上半年的財政年度表現並考慮範圍的高端，是否有任何關於推進任何類型的成本或投資的想法？有這種可能嗎？您是否正在考慮從 2024 年開始設置它？

I think we do all the things that we tend to set up the fiscal year. And certainly, our guidance speaks for itself. I really do not have any things to speak about saying we are going to be moving things around to that point. So we have got our projections, we have got our earnings as we stated and let those speak themselves.

我認為我們會做我們傾向於建立財政年度的所有事情。當然，我們的指導不言自明。我真的沒有什麼可說的，說我們將把事情轉移到這一點。所以我們有我們的預測，我們有我們所說的收益，讓這些自己說話。

Okay. Very good. And then similar to the last question on storage and transportation. What about the Energy Services quarterly delta there? Any details that you could provide on that?

好的。非常好。然後類似於上一個關於存儲和運輸的問題。那裡的能源服務季度增量怎麼樣？您可以提供任何詳細信息嗎？

I mean it was a dramatically different year last year than this year. So you have got a decent delta. But our Energy Services group, going back to the last quarter, has performed very well. It allowed us to a certain extent, raise guidance for this year, and they are still able to achieve positive earnings in this quarter, which is a very low energy use quarter, and they are doing well. So that is the only color that I can give, but the quarter-to-quarter comparisons, I know can be a little bit difficult because of when volatility happens and how does this unit performs on a quarter-to-quarter basis.

我的意思是去年與今年截然不同。所以你有一個不錯的三角洲。但是我們的能源服務集團，回到上個季度，表現非常好。這在一定程度上讓我們提高了今年的指導，他們仍然能夠在本季度實現正收益，這是一個非常低的能源使用季度，他們做得很好。所以這是我唯一能給出的顏色，但我知道季度與季度的比較可能有點困難，因為波動發生的時間以及該單位在季度與季度之間的表現如何。

Okay. So the usage being a big factor.

好的。所以使用是一個很大的因素。

Yes.

是的。

Yes. This is Roberto. Yes to what Steve said, what I would say is that, once again looking at the year-to-date, the business is actually performing better than last year. And so on an overall basis, we are doing better.

是的。這是羅伯托。是的，史蒂夫說的是，我要說的是，再次回顧今年迄今為止，該業務實際上比去年表現更好。因此，總體而言，我們做得更好。

Okay. Very good. That is all I had.

好的。非常好。這就是我的全部。

Thanks Travis.

謝謝特拉維斯。

Thank you. We go next now to Robert Mosca at Mizuho.

謝謝。接下來我們去 Mizuho 的 Robert Mosca。

So on your cash flow guidance, it did not seem like there was a change in the near-term outlook on your CFO guide despite the falling gas prices. Can you just talk about the present case as to why you might not be modeling a working capital benefit there? Is that just conservatism?

因此，在您的現金流量指南中，儘管天然氣價格下跌，但您的 CFO 指南的近期前景似乎沒有變化。你能談談目前的案例，為什麼你可能不在那裡模擬營運資本收益嗎？這只是保守主義嗎？

Robert, can you just repeat the beginning of that question because I did not catch that?

羅伯特，你能不能重複一下問題的開頭，因為我沒聽清？

So there was not a change in your cash flow from operations guidance or we might have seen a little bit of a working capital benefit here. Could you just talk about why that has not been modeled in your outlook? Is that conservatism or something else?

因此，您的運營指導現金流量沒有變化，或者我們可能在這裡看到了一點營運資金收益。您能否談談為什麼沒有在您的展望中建模？那是保守主義還是別的什麼？

So this is Roberto. So our cash flow from operations guidance for the year has not changed in last quarter. And what you can see once you look at our results is that we were performing very well actually. Remember, what you see there in our 10-Q is our year-to-date results. So again, for the year, we are not modifying those projections, and we are exactly within our expectations.

這就是羅伯托。因此，我們今年運營指導的現金流量在上個季度沒有變化。一旦你看到我們的結果，你就會看到我們實際上表現得非常好。請記住，您在我們的 10-Q 中看到的是我們年初至今的結果。因此，對於這一年，我們不會修改這些預測，而且我們完全在我們的預期之內。

Right. And I guess I am asking it I think in the prior quarter, you said there was a working capital sequential uplift if gas prices were to fall? Are you just being conservative with that outlook for the next couple of years on gas prices?

正確的。我想我是在問它，我想在上一季度，你說如果天然氣價格下跌，營運資金會連續增加嗎？您是否只是對未來幾年的天然氣價格前景持保守態度？

Robert, it is hard to understand (inaudible). Can you speak up in maybe louder and repeat that question only for that.

羅伯特，這很難理解（聽不清）。你能不能大聲點說出來，然後只重複那個問題。

So I guess what I am asking is, I think in the past quarter, you had said that we might see a working capital benefit if gas prices were to fall, and that was kind of an element of conservatism you were taking in your guidance. Just wondering why that is maybe not being included in the '23 and '24 guidance yet?

所以我想我要問的是，我想在過去的一個季度裡，你曾說過，如果天然氣價格下跌，我們可能會看到營運資本收益，這是你在指導中採取的一種保守主義元素。只是想知道為什麼這可能還沒有包含在 '23 和 '24 指南中？

Yes. So we have not fully updated that yet. But you are right, we may have some upside especially in 2024, which is not incorporated in the numbers. But again, it is too early to say that, right? We are (inaudible) in the year.

是的。所以我們還沒有完全更新。但你是對的，我們可能會有一些上行空間，尤其是在 2024 年，這沒有包含在數字中。但話又說回來，現在說還為時過早，對吧？我們在這一年（聽不清）。

Okay. That is fair. And then separately, I think you mentioned in your prepared remarks, looking at opportunities in storage and transportation. It sounds like maybe along the Gulf Coast. Can you kind of expand on those thoughts? Is that within Leaf River? Or they are opportunities you are assessing around that asset or outside of this?

好的。這是公平的。然後分別，我想你在準備好的發言中提到，尋找儲存和運輸的機會。聽起來可能沿著墨西哥灣沿岸。你能擴展一下這些想法嗎？是在葉河裡面嗎？或者它們是您圍繞該資產或在此資產之外評估的機會？

Nothing to announce. I will say that, but you can certainly see volatility in the Gulf Coast region, growth in usage either from electric generation or from the LNG liquefiers that are being built down there. This puts a lot of pressure on assets. And there is a lot of conversations talking about potential expansions and (inaudible) services and things like that. So just giving a little bit of color around those markets, as these natural gas demands grow, our assets are in good places to be able to serve some of that. But again, nothing to announce, but we are having conversations.

沒什麼可宣布的。我會這麼說，但你肯定會看到墨西哥灣沿岸地區的波動，發電量或當地正在建造的液化天然氣液化器的使用量增長。這給資產帶來了很大的壓力。並且有很多對話談論潛在的擴展和（聽不清）服務以及類似的事情。因此，隨著這些天然氣需求的增長，只要給這些市場一些顏色，我們的資產就可以滿足其中的一些需求。但同樣，沒有什麼可宣布的，但我們正在進行對話。

Okay. Appreciate it, Steve. And then last one from me is just any impacts to your system from that (inaudible) service of regional energy access.

好的。欣賞它，史蒂夫。然後我的最後一個是區域能源訪問（聽不清）服務對您的系統的任何影響。

So any impact, we will certainly get more supply to the region, which is very much needed. You can see by the high gas price that we have seen in the past for Citygate that there is an extreme amount of demand that is here and our utilities to contractor for that. So more reliable supply on firm contracts, it is always welcome to the area, and we will be using that contracts when it comes into the service.

因此，任何影響，我們肯定會為該地區提供更多供應，這是非常需要的。你可以從我們過去看到的東薈城的高油價中看出，這裡有大量的需求，我們的公用事業公司為此承包商。因此，根據確定的合同提供更可靠的供應，該地區始終歡迎它，我們將在提供服務時使用該合同。

Okay. Great. Thanks for the time, everyone.

好的。偉大的。謝謝大家的時間。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you, Mr. Mata. (Operator Instructions). It appears we have no further questions today. I would like to turn the conference back to the management team for any closing or additional remarks.

謝謝你，馬塔先生。 （操作員說明）。看來我們今天沒有其他問題了。我想將會議轉回給管理團隊，以徵求任何結束或補充意見。

I would like to thank everybody for joining us this morning. As a reminder, a recording of this call is available for replay on our website. As always, we appreciate your interest in investment in NJR. And we look forward to seeing many of you at AGA later this month. Thank you, everyone, and have a good morning.

我要感謝大家今天早上加入我們。提醒一下，此通話的錄音可在我們的網站上重播。一如既往，我們感謝您對新日本無線的投資興趣。我們期待著本月晚些時候在 AGA 見到你們中的許多人。謝謝大家，祝大家早上好。

Thank you, Mr. Westhoven. Ladies and gentlemen, again, that does conclude the New Jersey Resources Fiscal 2023 Second Quarter Conference Call and webcast. We would like to thank you all so much for joining us and wish you all a great day. Goodbye.

謝謝你，韋斯特霍文先生。女士們，先生們，新澤西資源公司 2023 財年第二季度電話會議和網絡廣播結束了。非常感謝大家加入我們，祝大家度過愉快的一天。再見。