Atmos Energy - 10-Q quarterly report FY2010 Q3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.  Yes þ     No o

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its website, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 ofRegulation S-T(§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).  Yes þ     No o

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

 

(Do not check if a smaller reporting company)

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined inRule 12b-2of the Exchange Act) Yeso     No þ

 

Number of shares outstanding of each of the issuer’s classes of common stock, as of July 29, 2010.

 

 

 

 

 

 

See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements

 

 

See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements

 

 

See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements

 

 

See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements

 

 

Atmos Energy Corporation (“Atmos Energy” or the “Company”) and our subsidiaries are engaged primarily in the regulated natural gas distribution and transmission and storage businesses as well as certain other nonregulated businesses. Our corporate headquarters and shared-services function are located in Dallas, Texas and our customer support centers are located in Amarillo and Waco, Texas.

 

Through our natural gas distribution business, we deliver natural gas through sales and transportation arrangements to over three million residential, commercial, public authority and industrial customers through our six regulated natural gas distribution divisions which cover service areas located in 12 states. In addition, we transport natural gas for others through our distribution system. Our regulated activities also include our regulated pipeline and storage operations, which include the transportation of natural gas to our distribution system and the management of our underground storage facilities. Our natural gas distribution and regulated pipeline and storage businesses are subject to federal and state regulationand/orregulation by local authorities in each of the states in which our natural gas distribution divisions operate.

 

Our nonregulated businesses operate primarily in the Midwest and Southeast and include our natural gas marketing operations and pipeline, storage and other operations. These businesses are operated through various wholly-owned subsidiaries of Atmos Energy Holdings, Inc. (AEH), which is wholly owned by the Company and based in Houston, Texas. Through our nonregulated businesses, we primarily provide natural gas management and marketing services to municipalities, other local gas distribution companies and industrial customers and natural gas transportation and storage services to certain of our natural gas distribution divisions and third parties.

 

We operate the Company through the following four segments:

 

 

These consolidated interim-period financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States on the same basis as those used for the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements included in our Annual Report onForm 10-Kfor the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009. In the opinion of management, all material adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals) necessary for a fair presentation have been made to the unaudited consolidated interim-period financial statements. These consolidated interim-period financial statements are condensed as permitted by the instructions toForm 10-Qand should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements of Atmos Energy Corporation included in our Annual Report onForm 10-Kfor the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009. Because of seasonal and other factors, the results of operations for the nine-month period ended June 30, 2010 are not indicative of our results of operations for the full 2010 fiscal year, which ends September 30, 2010.

 

 

We have evaluated subsequent events from the June 30, 2010 balance sheet date through the date these financial statements were filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). On July 1, 2010, we entered into an accelerated share repurchase agreement with Goldman, Sachs & Co. to repurchase $100 million of our outstanding common stock. The agreement is designed to offset stock grants made under various employee and director incentive compensation plans. The specific number of shares that we will ultimately repurchase in the transaction will be based generally on the average of the daily volume-weighted average share price of our common stock over the duration of the agreement. The agreement is scheduled to end in March 2011, although the termination date may be accelerated. As a result of this transaction, our weighted-average shares outstanding will be reduced over the remaining three months of fiscal 2010.

 

Except for the accelerated share repurchase agreement, no events have occurred subsequent to the balance sheet date that would require recognition or disclosure in the financial statements.

 

Our accounting policies are described in Note 2 to the financial statements in our Annual Report onForm 10-Kfor the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009.

 

During the second quarter of fiscal 2010, we completed our annual goodwill impairment assessment. Based on the assessment performed, we determined that our goodwill was not impaired.

 

During the nine months ended June 30, 2010, six new accounting standards became applicable to the Company. Except as indicated below, the adoption of these standards did not have a material impact on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows. There were no other significant changes to our accounting policies during the nine months ended June 30, 2010.

 

The determination of participating securities in the basic earnings per share calculation — The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued guidance related to determining whether instruments granted in share-based payment transactions are considered participating securities. The FASB determined that non-vested share-based payments with a nonforfeitable right to dividends or dividend equivalents are participating securities and, as a result, companies with these types of participating securities must use the two-class method to compute earnings per share. Based on this guidance, the Company is required to calculate earnings per share using the two-class method and will include non-vested restricted stock and restricted stock units for which vesting is only predicated upon the passage of time in the basic earnings per share calculation. Non-vested restricted stock and restricted stock units for which vesting is predicated, in part upon the achievement of specified performance targets, continue to be excluded from the calculation of earnings per share. Although the provisions of this standard were effective for us as of October 1, 2009, prior-period earnings per share data must be recalculated and adjusted accordingly. The calculation of basic and diluted earnings per share pursuant

 

 

to the two-class method is presented in Note 6. The application of the two-class method resulted in the following changes to basic and diluted earnings per share for the three and nine months ended June 30, 2009.

 

 

Fair value measurements of plan assets of a defined benefit pension or other postretirement plan — This guidance requires employers to disclose annually information about fair value measurements of the assets of a defined benefit pension or other postretirement plan in a manner similar to the requirements established for financial and non-financial assets. The objectives of the required disclosures are to provide users of financial statements with an understanding of how investment allocation decisions are made, the major categories of plan assets, the inputs and valuation techniques used to measure fair value of plan assets and significant concentrations of risk within plan assets. These disclosures will appear in ourForm 10-Kfor the year ending September 30, 2010.

 

Measurement of liabilities at fair value — This guidance requires that, effective October 1, 2009, when a quoted price in an active market for an identical liability is not available, we will be required to measure fair value using a valuation technique that uses quoted prices of similar liabilities, quoted prices of identical or similar liabilities when traded as assets, or another valuation technique that is consistent with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), such as the income or market approach. Additionally, when estimating the fair value of a liability, we will not be required to include a separate input or adjustment to other inputs relating to the existence of a restriction that prevents our transfer of the liability. The adoption of this guidance did not impact our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

 

Business combination accounting — Effective October 1, 2009, this new pronouncement established new principles and requirements for how the acquirer in a business combination recognizes and measures in its financial statements the identifiable assets acquired, the liabilities assumed and any noncontrolling interest in the acquiree at the acquisition date fair value. This update significantly changes the accounting for business combinations in a number of areas, including the treatment of contingent consideration, preacquisition contingencies, transaction costs and restructuring costs. In addition, under the new guidelines, changes in an acquired entity’s deferred tax assets and uncertain tax positions after the measurement period will impact current period income tax expense.

 

Accounting and reporting for minority interests —In December 2007, the FASB issued guidance related to the accounting and reporting for minority interests, which will be recharacterized as noncontrolling interests and classified as a component of equity. This new consolidation method significantly changed the accounting for transactions with minority interest holders beginning October 1, 2009. As of June 30, 2010, Atmos Energy did not have any transactions with minority interest holders.

 

 

Fair value disclosures — The FASB issued guidance that requires new disclosures surrounding fair value measurements to enhance the existing disclosure requirements including 1) information about transfers in and out of Level 1 and Level 2 fair value measurements as well as a detailed reconciliation of activity in Level 3 fair value measurements; 2) a more detailed level of disaggregation for each class of assets and liabilities; and 3) a requirement to disclose information about the valuation techniques and inputs used to measure fair value for both recurring and nonrecurring fair value measurements that fall in either Level 2 or Level 3. The new disclosures and clarifications of existing disclosures became effective for us on January 1, 2010, except for the disclosures related to the detailed reconciliation of Level 3 fair value measurements, which will become effective for us on October 1, 2011. As a result of adopting this standard, beginning in our second fiscal quarter we added a disclosure about the valuation techniques and inputs we used to measure fair value for our Level 2 recurring and nonrecurring fair value measurements which is included in Note 4. As of June 30, 2010, we did not have any Level 3 fair value measurements.

 

Accounting principles generally accepted in the United States require cost-based, rate-regulated entities that meet certain criteria to reflect the authorized recovery of costs due to regulatory decisions in their financial statements. As a result, certain costs are permitted to be capitalized rather than expensed because they can be recovered through rates. We record certain costs as regulatory assets when future recovery through customer rates is considered probable. Regulatory liabilities are recorded when it is probable that revenues will be reduced for amounts that will be credited to customers through the ratemaking process. Substantially all of our regulatory assets are recorded as a component of deferred charges and other assets and substantially all of our regulatory liabilities are recorded as a component of deferred credits and other liabilities. Deferred gas costs are recorded either in other current assets or liabilities and the regulatory cost of removal obligation is reported separately.

 

Significant regulatory assets and liabilities as of June 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009 included the following:

 

 

 

Currently, our authorized rates do not include a return on certain of our merger and integration costs; however, we recover the amortization of these costs. Merger and integration costs, net, are generally amortized on a straight-line basis over estimated useful lives ranging up to 20 years. Environmental costs have been deferred to be included in future rate filings in accordance with rulings received from various state regulatory commissions.

 

The following table presents the components of comprehensive income, net of related tax, for the three-month and nine-month periods ended June 30, 2010 and 2009:

 

 

Accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of tax, as of June 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009 consisted of the following unrealized gains (losses):

 

 

 

 

We currently use financial instruments to mitigate commodity price risk. Additionally, we periodically utilize financial instruments to manage interest rate risk. The objectives and strategies for using financial instruments have been tailored to our regulated and nonregulated businesses. The accounting for these financial instruments is fully described in Note 2 to the financial statements in our Annual Report onForm 10-Kfor the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009. Currently, we utilize financial instruments in our natural gas distribution, natural gas marketing and pipeline, storage and other segments. However, our pipeline, storage and other segment uses financial instruments acquired from Atmos Energy Marketing, LLC (AEM) on the same terms that AEM received from an independent counterparty. On a consolidated basis, these financial instruments are reported in the natural gas marketing segment. We currently do not manage commodity price risk with financial instruments in our regulated transmission and storage segment.

 

Our financial instruments do not contain any credit-risk-related or other contingent features that could cause accelerated payments when our financial instruments are in net liability positions.

 

Although our purchased gas cost adjustment mechanisms essentially insulate our natural gas distribution segment from commodity price risk, our customers are exposed to the effect of volatile natural gas prices. We manage this exposure through a combination of physical storage, fixed-price forward contracts and financial instruments, primarilyover-the-counterswap and option contracts, in an effort to minimize the impact of natural gas price volatility on our customers during the winter heating season.

 

Our natural gas distribution gas supply department is responsible for executing this segment’s commodity risk management activities in conformity with regulatory requirements. In jurisdictions where we are permitted to mitigate commodity price risk through financial instruments, the relevant regulatory authorities may establish the level of heating season gas purchases that can be hedged. Historically, if the regulatory authority does not establish this level, we seek to hedge between 25 and 50 percent of anticipated heating season gas purchases using financial instruments. For the2009-2010heating season, in the jurisdictions where we are permitted to utilize financial instruments, we hedged approximately 29 percent, or 26.9 Bcf of the planned winter flowing gas requirements. We have not designated these financial instruments as hedges.

 

The costs associated with and the gains and losses arising from the use of financial instruments to mitigate commodity price risk are included in our purchased gas adjustment mechanisms in accordance with regulatory requirements. Therefore, changes in the fair value of these financial instruments are initially recorded as a component of deferred gas costs and recognized in the consolidated statement of income as a component of purchased gas cost when the related costs are recovered through our rates and recognized in revenue in accordance with applicable authoritative accounting guidance. Accordingly, there is no earnings impact on our natural gas distribution segment as a result of the use of financial instruments.

 

Our natural gas marketing segment, through AEM, aggregates and purchases gas supply, arranges transportationand/orstorage logistics and ultimately delivers gas to our customers at competitive prices. To facilitate this process, we utilize proprietary and customer-owned transportation and storage assets to provide the various services our customers’ request.

 

We also perform asset optimization activities in both our natural gas marketing segment and pipeline, storage and other segment. Through asset optimization activities, we seek to maximize the economic value associated with the storage and transportation capacity we own or control. We attempt to meet this objective by engaging in natural gas storage transactions in which we seek to find and profit from pricing differences that occur over time. We purchase physical natural gas and then sell financial instruments at advantageous prices to

 

 

lock in a gross profit margin. Through the use of transportation and storage services and financial instruments, we also seek to capture gross profit margin through the arbitrage of pricing differences that exist in various locations and by recognizing pricing differences that occur over time. Over time, gains and losses on the sale of storage gas inventory should be offset by gains and losses on the financial instruments, resulting in the realization of the economic gross profit margin we anticipated at the time we structured the original transaction.

 

As a result of these activities, our nonregulated operations are exposed to risks associated with changes in the market price of natural gas. We manage our exposure to such risks through a combination of physical storage and financial instruments, including futures,over-the-counterand exchange-traded options and swap contracts with counterparties. Futures contracts provide the right to buy or sell the commodity at a fixed price in the future. Option contracts provide the right, but not the requirement, to buy or sell the commodity at a fixed price. Swap contracts require receipt of payment for the commodity based on the difference between a fixed price and the market price on the settlement date.

 

We use financial instruments, designated as cash flow hedges of anticipated purchases and sales at index prices, to mitigate the commodity price risk in our natural gas marketing segment associated with deliveries under fixed-priced forward contracts to deliver gas to customers. These financial instruments have maturity dates ranging from one to 49 months. We use financial instruments, designated as fair value hedges, to hedge our natural gas inventory used in our asset optimization activities in our natural gas marketing and pipeline, storage and other segments.

 

Also, in our natural gas marketing segment, we use storage swaps and futures to capture additional storage arbitrage opportunities that arise subsequent to the execution of the original fair value hedge associated with our physical natural gas inventory, basis swaps to insulate and protect the economic value of our fixed price and storage books and variousover-the-counterand exchange-traded options. These financial instruments have not been designated as hedges.

 

Our nonregulated risk management activities are controlled through various risk management policies and procedures. Our Audit Committee has oversight responsibility for our nonregulated risk management limits and policies. A risk committee, comprised of corporate and business unit officers, is responsible for establishing and enforcing our nonregulated risk management policies and procedures.

 

Under our risk management policies, we seek to match our financial instrument positions to our physical storage positions as well as our expected current and future sales and purchase obligations to maintain no open positions at the end of each trading day. The determination of our net open position as of any day, however, requires us to make assumptions as to future circumstances, including the use of gas by our customers in relation to our anticipated storage and market positions. Because the price risk associated with any net open position at the end of each day may increase if the assumptions are not realized, we review these assumptions as part of our daily monitoring activities. Our operations can also be affected by intraday fluctuations of gas prices, since the price of natural gas purchased or sold for future delivery earlier in the day may not be hedged until later in the day. At times, limited net open positions related to our existing and anticipated commitments may occur. At the close of business on June 30, 2010, AEH had net open positions (including existing storage) of 0.3 Bcf.

 

Currently, we are not managing interest rate risk with financial instruments. However, in prior years, we periodically managed interest rate risk by entering into Treasury lock agreements to fix the Treasury yield component of the interest cost associated with anticipated financings. These Treasury locks were settled at various times at a cumulative net loss. These realized gains and losses were recorded as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) and are being recognized as a component of interest expense over the life of the associated notes from the date of settlement. The remaining amortization periods for these Treasury locks extend through fiscal 2035. However, the majority of the remaining amounts associated with these Treasury locks will be recognized by the end of fiscal 2019.

 

 

 

The following tables present detailed information concerning the impact of financial instruments on our condensed consolidated balance sheet and income statements.

 

As of June 30, 2010, our financial instruments were comprised of both long and short commodity positions. A long position is a contract to purchase the commodity, while a short position is a contract to sell the commodity. As of June 30, 2010, we had net long/(short) commodity contracts outstanding in the following quantities:

 

 

The following tables present the fair value and balance sheet classification of our financial instruments by operating segment as of June 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009. As required by authoritative accounting literature, the fair value amounts below are presented on a gross basis and do not reflect the netting of asset and liability positions permitted under the terms of our master netting arrangements. Further, the amounts below do not include $18.0 million and $11.7 million of cash held on deposit in margin accounts as of June 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009 to collateralize certain financial instruments. Therefore, these gross balances are not indicative of either our actual credit exposure or net economic exposure. Additionally, the amounts below will not be equal to the amounts presented on our condensed consolidated balance sheet, nor will they be equal to the fair value information presented for our financial instruments in Note 4.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The following tables present the impact that financial instruments had on our condensed consolidated income statement, by operating segment, as applicable, for the three and nine months ended June 30, 2010 and 2009.

 

Hedge ineffectiveness for our natural gas marketing and pipeline storage and other segments is recorded as a component of unrealized gross profit and primarily results from differences in the location and timing of the derivative instrument and the hedged item. Hedge ineffectiveness could materially affect our results of operations for the reported period. For the three months ended June 30, 2010 and 2009 we recognized a gain arising from fair value and cash flow hedge ineffectiveness of $3.8 million and $0.2 million. For the nine months ended June 30, 2010 and 2009 we recognized a gain arising from fair value and cash flow hedge ineffectiveness of $44.2 million and $24.7 million. Additional information regarding ineffectiveness recognized in the income statement is included in the tables below.

 

 

 

The impact of commodity contracts designated as fair value hedges and the related hedged item on our condensed consolidated income statement for the three and nine months ended June 30, 2010 and 2009 is presented below.

 

 

 

 

Basis ineffectiveness arises from natural gas market price differences between the locations of the hedged inventory and the delivery location specified in the hedge instruments. Timing ineffectiveness arises due to changes in the difference between the spot price and the futures price, as well as the difference between the timing of the settlement of the futures and the valuation of the underlying physical commodity. As the commodity contract nears the settlement date,spot-to-forwardprice differences should converge, which should reduce or eliminate the impact of this ineffectiveness on revenue.

 

The impact of cash flow hedges on our condensed consolidated income statements for the three and nine months ended June 30, 2010 and 2009 is presented below. Note that this presentation does not reflect the financial impact arising from the hedged physical transaction. Therefore, this presentation is not indicative of the economic gross profit we realized or will realize when the underlying physical and financial transactions are settled.

 

 

 

 

 

The following table summarizes the gains and losses arising from hedging transactions that were recognized as a component of other comprehensive income (loss), net of taxes, for the three and nine months ended June 30, 2010 and 2009. The amounts included in the table below exclude gains and losses arising from ineffectiveness because those amounts are immediately recognized in the income statement as incurred.

 

 

 

 

Deferred losses recorded in AOCI associated with our treasury lock agreements are recognized in earnings as they are amortized, while deferred losses associated with commodity contracts are recognized in earnings upon settlement. The following amounts, net of deferred taxes, represent the expected recognition in earnings of the deferred losses recorded in AOCI associated with our financial instruments, based upon the fair values of these financial instruments as of June 30, 2010:

 

 

 

 

The impact of financial instruments that have not been designated as hedges on our condensed consolidated income statements for the three and nine months ended June 30, 2010 and 2009 is presented below. Note that this presentation does not reflect the expected gains or losses arising from the underlying physical transactions associated with these financial instruments. Therefore, this presentation is not indicative of the economic gross profit we realized when the underlying physical and financial transactions were settled.

 

As discussed above, financial instruments used in our natural gas distribution segment are not designated as hedges. However, there is no earnings impact on our natural gas distribution segment as a result of the use of these financial instruments because the gains and losses arising from the use of these financial instruments are recognized in the consolidated statement of income as a component of purchased gas cost when the related

 

 

costs are recovered through our rates and recognized in revenue. Accordingly, the impact of these financial instruments is excluded from this presentation.

 

 

We report certain assets and liabilities at fair value, which is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date (exit price). We record cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable and accounts payable at carrying value, which substantially approximates fair value due to the short-term nature of these assets and liabilities. For other financial assets and liabilities, we primarily use quoted market prices and other observable market pricing information to minimize the use of unobservable pricing inputs in our measurements when determining fair value. The methods used to determine fair value for our assets and liabilities are fully described in Note 2 to the financial statements in our Annual Report onForm 10-Kfor the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009. During the three and nine months ended June 30, 2010, there were no changes in these methods.

 

Effective October 1, 2009, the authoritative guidance related to nonrecurring fair value measurements became effective for us with respect to asset retirement obligations, most nonfinancial assets and liabilities that may be acquired in a business combination and impairment analyses performed for nonfinancial assets. The adoption of the FASB’s fair value guidance for the reporting of these nonrecurring fair value measurements did not have a material impact on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows for the three and nine months ended June 30, 2010.

 

Although fair value measurements also apply to the valuation of our pension and post-retirement plan assets, the current fair value disclosure requirements are not applicable to our pension and post-retirement plan assets. Accordingly, these plan assets are not included in the tabular disclosures below. However, similar disclosures about fair value measurements for our pension and post-retirement plan assets will appear in ourForm 10-Kfor the year ending September 30, 2010.

 

 

The classification of our fair value measurements requires judgment regarding the degree to which market data are observable or corroborated by observable market data. Authoritative accounting literature establishes a fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs used to measure fair value based on observable and unobservable data. The hierarchy categorizes the inputs into three levels, with the highest priority given to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets and liabilities (Level 1), with the lowest priority given to unobservable inputs (Level 3). The following tables summarize, by level within the fair value hierarchy, our assets and liabilities that were accounted for at fair value on a recurring basis as of June 30, 2010 and

 

 

September 30, 2009. Assets and liabilities are categorized in their entirety based on the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement.