Great Plains Energy Reports Full-Year and Fourth Quarter Results for 2014
In 2014,
“The La Cygne environmental upgrade is one of the largest construction
projects in the history of our Company and is a testament of our ability
to successfully execute large projects on plan,” said
“We faced challenges during 2014 as well, and our financial results were impacted by lag in recovery of property taxes, transmission costs and capital investments,” Bassham continued. “However, we successfully managed our operations and maintenance expense and saw modest customer demand growth, which helped mitigate the size of our rate cases.”
Great Plains Energy Full-Year:
GREAT PLAINS ENERGY INCORPORATED | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Consolidated Earnings and Earnings Per Share | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Year Ended December 31 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
(Unaudited) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Earnings per Great | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Earnings | Plains Energy Share | ||||||||||||||||||||||
2014 | 2013 | 2014 | 2013 | ||||||||||||||||||||
(millions) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Electric Utility | $ | 243.5 | $ | 257.1 | $ | 1.58 | $ | 1.67 | |||||||||||||||
Other | (0.7 | ) | (6.9 | ) | - | (0.04 | ) | ||||||||||||||||
Net income | 242.8 | 250.2 | 1.58 | 1.63 | |||||||||||||||||||
Preferred dividends | (1.6 | ) | (1.6 | ) | (0.01 | ) | (0.01 | ) | |||||||||||||||
Earnings available for common shareholders | $ | 241.2 | $ | 248.6 | $ | 1.57 | $ | 1.62 | |||||||||||||||
On a per-share basis, favorable drivers for the full-year 2014 versus 2013 were the following:
-
Approximately
$0.06 from new retail rates inMissouri that became effective in lateJanuary 2013 and inKansas that became effective inJuly 2014 ; -
$0.05 from the release of uncertain tax positions; and -
$0.03 impact from a decrease in interest expense.
The factors above were more than offset by the following:
-
$0.07 increase in depreciation and amortization; -
Other operating and maintenance expense increases of
$0.05 driven primarily by an increase in transmission and distribution expenses; -
$0.04 due to an increase in general taxes resulting from higher property taxes; -
$0.02 increase in operating and maintenance expense at the Wolf Creek nuclear unit relating to the planned 2014 mid-cycle outage and amortization relating to the prior year refueling outage partially offset by other decreases; and -
An approximate
$0.01 unfavorable impact from weather.
Great Plains Energy Fourth Quarter:
GREAT PLAINS ENERGY INCORPORATED | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Consolidated Earnings and Earnings Per Share | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Three Months Ended December 31 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
(Unaudited) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Earnings per Great | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Earnings | Plains Energy Share | ||||||||||||||||||||||
2014 | 2013 | 2014 | 2013 | ||||||||||||||||||||
(millions) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Electric Utility | $ | 22.4 | $ | 18.6 | $ | 0.14 | $ | 0.12 | |||||||||||||||
Other | (2.9 | ) | (1.1 | ) | (0.02 | ) | (0.01 | ) | |||||||||||||||
Net income | 19.5 | 17.5 | 0.12 | 0.11 | |||||||||||||||||||
Preferred dividends | (0.4 | ) | (0.4 | ) | - | - | |||||||||||||||||
Earnings available for common shareholders | $ | 19.1 | $ | 17.1 | $ | 0.12 | $ | 0.11 | |||||||||||||||
On a per-share basis, favorable drivers for the fourth quarter 2014 compared to the same period in 2013 included the following:
-
$0.02 decrease in other operating and maintenance expense; -
$0.02 decrease in operating and maintenance expense at Wolf Creek; -
Approximately
$0.01 from new retail rates inKansas that became effective inJuly 2014 ; -
$0.01 impact from a decrease in interest expense; and -
About
$0.01 from other items.
The factors above were partially offset by the following:
-
An estimated
$0.03 impact from a decrease in weather-normalized demand; -
$0.02 increase in depreciation and amortization; and -
An approximate
$0.01 unfavorable impact from weather.
Electric Utility Segment Full-Year:
The Electric Utility segment, which includes
Key drivers influencing the segment results included the following:
-
A
$23.3 million increase in gross margin primarily due to:-
An estimated
$14 million from new retail rates inMissouri that became effective in lateJanuary 2013 and inKansas that became effective inJuly 2014 ; and -
$16.0 million increase from energy efficiency programs under the Missouri Energy Efficiency Investment Act (MEEIA) consisting of$12.4 million for recovery of program costs, which have a direct offset in utility operating and maintenance expense, and$3.6 million for recovery of throughput disincentive.
-
An estimated
The gross margin factors above were partially offset by approximately
-
A
$40.8 million increase in other operating expenses primarily due to the following:-
$12.4 million increase in MEEIA program costs, which have a direct offset in revenue; -
$10.4 million increase in general taxes resulting from higher property taxes; -
$8.3 million increase in transmission and distribution expense; and -
$6.0 million increase in Wolf Creek operating and maintenance expense primarily due to the planned 2014 mid-cycle maintenance outage and increased amortization from the planned 2013 refueling outage, where costs are deferred and amortized, partially offset by other decreases;
-
-
A
$16.3 million increase in depreciation and amortization expense driven by capital additions; -
A
$7.5 million decrease in interest expense attributable to lower costs for short-term debt, the remarketing ofKCP&L's Series 1992, 1993A and 2007B EIRR inApril 2013 and 2008 EIRR bonds inJuly 2013 at lower interest rates; and -
A
$9.8 million decrease in income tax expense primarily due to lower pre-tax income.
On a weather-normalized basis, year-to-date retail MWh sales increased
an estimated 0.4 percent, net of MEEIA impacts, compared to the 2013
period. When compared to normal, the favorable impact from weather was
approximately
Electric Utility Segment Fourth Quarter:
Quarterly net income for the Electric Utility segment was
Overall retail MWh sales were down 2.7 percent in the quarter compared
to the fourth quarter 2013 with the decrease attributable to a decline
in weather-normalized retail demand and weather. On a weather-normalized
basis, retail MWh sales decreased an estimated 1.4 percent, net of MEEIA
impacts, compared to the fourth quarter 2013. The favorable weather
impact in the fourth quarter 2014, when compared to normal, was
approximately
Other Category Full-Year and Fourth Quarter:
Results for the Other category primarily include unallocated corporate
charges, GMO non-regulated operations and preferred dividends. For the
full-year 2014, the Other category recorded a loss of
For the fourth quarter 2014, the Other category recorded a loss of
Regulatory Update:
Earnings Webcast Information:
An earnings conference call and webcast is scheduled for
A live audio webcast of the conference call, presentation slides, supplemental financial information, and the earnings press release will be available on the investor relations page of Great Plains Energy’s website at www.greatplainsenergy.com. The webcast will be accessible only in a “listen-only” mode.
The conference call may be accessible by dialing (888) 353-7071
(U.S./
A replay and transcript of the call will be available later in the day
by accessing the investor relations section of the company’s website. A
telephonic replay of the conference call will also be available through
About
Headquartered in
Forward-Looking Statements:
Statements made in this release that are not based on historical facts
are forward-looking, may involve risks and uncertainties, and are
intended to be as of the date when made. Forward-looking statements
include, but are not limited to, the outcome of regulatory proceedings,
cost estimates of capital projects and other matters affecting future
operations. In connection with the safe harbor provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995,
This list of factors is not all-inclusive because it is not possible to
predict all factors. Other risk factors are detailed from time to time
in Great Plains Energy’s and KCP&L’s quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and
annual report on Form 10-K filed with the
Attachment A
Gross margin is a financial measure that is not calculated in accordance
with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Gross margin, as
used by
Great Plains Energy Incorporated | |||||||||||||||||||||
Reconciliation of Gross Margin to Operating Revenues | |||||||||||||||||||||
(Unaudited) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Three Months Ended | Year Ended | ||||||||||||||||||||
December 31 | December 31 | ||||||||||||||||||||
2014 | 2013 | 2014 | 2013 | ||||||||||||||||||
(millions) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Operating revenues | $ | 552.2 | $ | 538.8 | $ | 2,568.2 | $ | 2,446.3 | |||||||||||||
Fuel | (96.3 | ) | (129.5 | ) | (489.2 | ) | (539.5 | ) | |||||||||||||
Purchased power | (67.6 | ) | (26.5 | ) | (253.3 | ) | (125.9 | ) | |||||||||||||
Transmission | (19.1 | ) | (15.3 | ) | (74.7 | ) | (53.2 | ) | |||||||||||||
Gross margin | $ | 369.2 | $ | 367.5 | $ | 1,751.0 | $ | 1,727.7 | |||||||||||||
Source:
Great Plains Energy
Investors:
Tony Carreño,
816-654-1763
Director, Investor Relations
anthony.carreno@kcpl.com
or
Media:
Katie
McDonald, 816-556-2365
Director, Corporate Communications
katie.mcdonald@kcpl.com