In This Article:
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Full Year Earnings Per Share (EPS): $3.17 per share for 2024, compared to $3.36 per share for 2023.
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Fourth Quarter EPS: $0.75 per share, up from $0.55 per share in Q4 2023.
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Water Utility Earnings: $0.52 per share in Q4 2024, compared to $0.41 per share in Q4 2023.
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Electric Segment Earnings: $0.13 per share in Q4 2024, compared to $0.07 per share in Q4 2023.
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ASUS Earnings: $0.55 per share for the full year 2024, up from $0.50 per share in 2023.
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Consolidated Revenue Increase: $17.9 million increase in Q4 2024 compared to Q4 2023.
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Water Segment Revenue Increase: $5.1 million in Q4 2024.
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Electric Segment Revenue Increase: $10.6 million in Q4 2024.
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ASUS Revenue Increase: $2.3 million in Q4 2024.
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Infrastructure Investment: $235.5 million in 2024 for regulated utilities.
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ASUS Capital Upgrade Awards: $56.5 million in 2024.
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Return on Equity: 14.1% for 2024.
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Dividend Increase: 8.3% increase in 2024.
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Net Cash from Operating Activities: $198.7 million for 2024, up from $67.7 million in 2023.
Release Date: February 20, 2025
For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.
Positive Points
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American States Water Co (NYSE:AWR) received constructive regulatory outcomes from the California Public Utilities Commission, enabling continued investment in water and electric infrastructure.
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The company achieved a return on equity of 14.1% for the year and increased its dividend by 8.3%, marking seven consecutive years of annual dividend increases.
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AWR's Water Utilities segment recorded a tax benefit following the final decision in its general rate case.
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The company invested $235.5 million in infrastructure at its regulated utilities, reflecting strong execution of capital plans.
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ASUS, the contracted services business, secured $56.5 million in new capital upgrade awards, a record high, with projects scheduled for completion through 2027.
Negative Points
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Reported earnings per share for the full year of 2024 were $0.19 lower compared to the prior year.
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Higher operating expenses and interest costs partially offset the financial gains from rate increases.
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The issuance of equity under the at-the-market offering program decreased consolidated earnings by approximately $0.04 per share.
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Earnings from ASUS decreased $0.01 per share for the quarter due to increased operating expenses.
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The final decision rejected a full sales and revenue decoupling mechanism and a full supply cost balancing account, which could impact future financial flexibility.
Q & A Highlights
Q: Could you help reconcile how much of the $0.06 electric GRC retroactive EPS benefit recorded is solely related to 2023? A: Robert Sprowls, President and CEO, explained that more of the benefit is related to 2024 than 2023. The settlement with the public advocates aimed to spread out the first-year increase, leading to advice letter projects in both cases. Eva Tang, CFO, added that the first-year increase was mitigated by moving certain capital projects to 2024 and beyond.