Essential Utilities Reports Financial Results for Q1 2021

Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE: WTRG) (“Essential”), today reported results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021.

“We are pleased with our strong financial results for the first quarter of the year as we mark our one-year anniversary as Essential. As we move forward in 2021, we are reminded that it is the dedication to our mission of providing essential natural resources that has allowed us to become a 135-year-old company that has been on the New York Stock Exchange for 50 years,” said Essential Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Christopher Franklin.

Operating Results
Year over year comparisons were impacted by the Peoples transaction, which closed on March 16, 2020, and thereby was only included for 16 days in the first quarter of 2020. Essential reported net income of $183.7 million (GAAP) for the first quarter 2021, or $0.72 per share (GAAP), compared to $51.8 million, or $0.20 per share, for the first quarter 2020. Results for the first quarter of 2021 include the operating results of Peoples, which comprises the company’s regulated natural gas segment. For the first quarter of 2020, adjusted income and adjusted income per share (both non-GAAP financial measures) excluded Peoples-related transaction expenses and included a normalized pro forma adjustment for the Peoples operating results for the period January 1, 2020 to March 15, 2020 to provide the basis for a 2020 full-year run rate of operating results. Adjusting for those items, Essential’s adjusted income in the first quarter of 2020 was $153.7 million (non-GAAP), or $0.60 per share (non-GAAP). When compared to the adjusted income in the first quarter 2020, earnings increased 19.5%. Please refer to the reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial measures later in this press release for additional information on Essential’s use of non-GAAP financial measures as a supplement to its GAAP results.

Revenues for the quarter were $583.6 million, an increase of 128.3% compared to $255.6 million in the first quarter of 2020. The natural gas utility contributed $315.8 million of this revenue growth, while the remainder was due to rate and surcharge increases, growth, and increased volume in the regulated water segment. Operations and maintenance expenses increased to $125.1 million for the first quarter of 2021 compared to $106.6 million in the first quarter of 2020. The increase in operations and maintenance expenses was primarily a result of additional operations and maintenance expenses of $42.9 million from the acquisition of Peoples for the full period, offset by the impact of the Peoples transaction-related expenses of $25.4 million in the prior year.

The regulated water segment reported revenues for the quarter of $228.4 million, an increase of 5.6% compared to $216.2 million in the first quarter of 2020. Rates and surcharges, growth, and increased volume were the largest contributors to the increase in revenues for the period. Operations and maintenance expenses for the regulated water segment increased to $78.3 million for the first quarter of 2021. Adjusted for growth, COVID-related bad debt, and increased pension expenses, regulated water segment operations and maintenance increased in line with historical experience.

The regulated natural gas segment reported revenues for the first quarter of 2021 of $343.1 million. Operations and maintenance for the same period for the regulated natural gas segment were $51.3 million, and purchased gas costs were $122.9 million.

Dividend
On April 14, 2021, Essential’s board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.2507 per share of common stock. This dividend will be payable on June 1, 2021 to shareholders of record on May 14, 2021. The company has paid a consecutive quarterly cash dividend for more than 76 years.

Financing
On March 4, the company priced $100 million of First Mortgage Bonds (“FMB”) for Aqua Ohio with a weighted-average tenor of 20 years and a weighted-average coupon rate of 2.86%. Upon closing on April 15, 2021, the proceeds of these bonds were used for general corporate purposes. On April 19, Essential completed a $400 million public debt offering of 10-year notes issued at 2.40%. The company used these proceeds to pay down short-term borrowings and credit lines. As of April 30, after considering the effects of these financings, the company had $1.1 billion of capacity to borrow on various credit facilities.

Water Utility Acquisition Growth
Essential’s continued acquisition growth allows the company to provide safe and reliable water and wastewater service to an even larger customer base. The company previously announced six signed purchase agreements for additional water and wastewater systems that are expected to serve approximately 227,000 equivalent retail customers or equivalent dwelling units and add approximately $438 million in rate base in three of our existing states. This includes the company’s previously announced agreement to acquire the Delaware County Regional Water Quality Control Authority (DELCORA) for $276.5 million. DELCORA, a Pennsylvania sewer authority, serves approximately 198,000 equivalent dwelling units in the Philadelphia suburbs. In April 2021, the company signed an asset purchase agreement for a $12.5 million acquisition of a municipal water system in Illinois, representing approximately 4,000 equivalent dwelling units.

The pipeline of potential water and wastewater municipal acquisitions the company is actively pursuing represents approximately 395,000 total customers or equivalent dwelling units. On average, the company remains on track to annually increase customers between 2 and 3% through acquisitions and organic customer growth.

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