WTRG - Essential Utilities Inc. (WTRG) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

2024-02-23 15:29:10 ET

Essential Utilities, Inc. (WTRG)

Q4 2023 Earnings Conference Call

February 23, 2024, 11:00 ET

Company Participants

Brian Dingerdissen - VP of IR & Treasurer

Christopher Franklin - Chairman, President & CEO

Daniel Schuller - EVP & CFO

Conference Call Participants

Ryan Connors - Northcoast Research Partners

Durgesh Chopra - Evercore ISI

Travis Miller - Morningstar

Davis Sunderland - Robert W. Baird & Co.

Gregg Orrill - UBS

Jonathan Reeder - Wells Fargo Securities

Presentation

Operator

Hello, and welcome to the Essential Utilities Full Year 2023 Earnings Call. Please note, this conference is being recorded. [Operator Instructions]. I will now hand you over to your host, Brian Dingerdissen, to begin today's conference.

Brian Dingerdissen

Thank you, Francois. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. If you did not receive a copy of the press release, you can find it by visiting the Investor Relations section of our website. The slides that we will be referencing and the webcast of this event can be found on the website.

As a reminder, some of the matters discussed during this call may include forward-looking statements, that involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results to be materially different from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Please refer to our most recent 10-Q, 10-K and other SEC filings for a description of such risks and uncertainties.

During the course of this call, reference may be made to certain non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of any non-GAAP to GAAP financial measures is posted in the Investor Relations section of the website. We will begin the call today with Chris Franklin, our Chairman and CEO, who will provide an update on the company. And then Dan Schuller, our CFO, will provide an overview of the financial results before Chris closes the call with an update on our guidance and overall company priorities. With that, I will turn the call over to Chris Franklin.

Christopher Franklin

Thanks, Brian, and good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining us. Let's start the call with some highlights from 2023 and some company updates. Despite the unusually warm winter weather in much of 2023, we remain focused on operational excellence and improving our Water and Natural Gas systems, by investing capital and continuous improvement measures.

As a result of this good work, we're happy to report earnings per share of $1.86, which is in line with our 5% to 7% guidance. As Dan will discuss in a few moments in more detail, our team was able to make -- really make up for the $43 million of weather-related net revenue shortfall versus budget and still meet our guidance range, which was quite an accomplishment in 2023.

Now last year, we invested nearly $1.2 billion in infrastructure improvements, as compared to $1.06 billion in 2022. Our commitment to investing in critical infrastructure across our footprint has led to the replacement, retirement and installation of over 300 miles of pipe in 2023 alone. This improved service and reliability for our customers throughout the water, wastewater and natural gas part of the platform. ...

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