Business Context and Reporting Period
This Form 8-K was filed by American Electric Power Company, Inc. on June 3, 2009. The report serves as a Regulation FD disclosure regarding investor meetings scheduled between June 3, 2009, and June 11, 2009.
Key Financial Metrics
The filing does not provide specific historical financial data such as revenue, profit, cash flow, margins, debt, or liquidity for the current or prior periods. The only financial metric disclosed is the company's forward-looking earnings guidance.
- 2009 Fiscal Year Ongoing Earnings Guidance: $2.75 to $3.05 per share.
- Performance Metric: Management utilizes "ongoing earnings" (GAAP earnings adjusted for certain items) as the primary measure for performance and investor communication.
Material Changes
The filing does not report material changes to financial results or operations compared to prior periods. It confirms that the company will reaffirm its previously issued guidance, which was last stated in a Form 8-K filed on April 24, 2009.
Guidance, Outlook, and Risks
Outlook: Management reaffirms the 2009 ongoing earnings per share range of $2.75 to $3.05.
Risks and Contingencies: The filing includes an extensive list of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from projections, including:
- Electric load, customer growth, and weather conditions (including storms).
- Fuel availability, costs, and supplier creditworthiness.
- Generating capacity performance and regulatory asset recovery.
- New legislation and environmental regulations (sulfur, nitrogen, mercury, carbon emissions).
- Resolution of pending litigation, including Clean Air Act enforcement and disputes related to the Enron Corp. bankruptcy.
- Financial market conditions affecting capital availability and debt refinancing.
- Volatility in electricity and natural gas markets.
- Performance of pension and postretirement benefit plans.
- Unforeseen events such as wars, terrorism, and catastrophic events.
Investor Verification Checklist
- Verify the specific adjustments made to GAAP earnings to arrive at the "ongoing earnings" figure of $2.75 to $3.05 per share.
- Review the April 24, 2009 Form 8-K for the original context of the reaffirmed guidance.
- Monitor the status of pending Clean Air Act enforcement actions and Enron-related litigation.
- Assess current fuel costs and creditworthiness of suppliers given the cited risks.
- Track regulatory decisions regarding rate cases and environmental compliance costs.