LNG

Sempra, the US utility company with power and natural gas services centred on California and Texas and LNG developments in the US and Mexico through the Sempra Infrastructure subsidiary, reported a surge in net income for the year and the fourth quarter.

Atmos Energy Corp., the US natural gas distribution company serving more than 1,400 communities across eight mostly southern states, reported a rise in first-quarter profit as lower costs helped offset the impact of lower demand caused by milder weather.

The Dallas-based company posted net income for the three months to December, which is the Atmos fiscal first quarter, of $311 million versus $272M in the same three months of 2022.

Atmos said the earnings per share came to $2.08 per share compared with $1.91 per share in the prior-year quarter.

The company is active in the states of Colorado, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

Customers

It provides natural gas, for example, to more than 184,500 customers in Kentucky communities such as Owensboro, Paducah, Hopkinsville, Lawrenceburg, Danville, Princeton and Campbellsville.

Atmos also has industrial customers in the states it serves and in Tennessee the distributor supplies natural gas to Bell Helicopter, the Jack Daniels whiskey distillery, General Motors and the Middle and East Tennessee State Universities.

The company reported that total capital expenditure in the quarter was $769.7M, slightly lower than the 2022 quarter.

Spending was focused on the repair and replacement of transmission and distribution pipelines as well as on gas fortifications and installing and replacing measurement and regulating equipment.

Atmos also issued $900M of long-term debt financing with $500M of 6.20-percent, 30-year senior notes issued in October 2023.

This was followed shortly afterwards by $400M of 5.90-percent, 10-year senior notes.

Full-year outlook

In its financial guidance for all of fiscal 2024, Atmos forecasts net profits of between $985M and $1.05 billion compared with $882M in the previous fiscal year.

In the coming fiscal year Atmos expects up to $665M in profits from the distribution business and up to $350M from pipelines and storage.

The board increased the quarterly dividend by 8.8 percent to $0.805 per common share.

The indicated annual dividend for fiscal 2024 was $3.22 per share.

“Our first-quarter results reflect the continued execution of our proven strategy by all of our 5,000 dedicated employees of operating safely and reliably while we modernize our natural gas distribution, transmission and storage systems,” said Kevin Akers, President and Chief Executive.

“This strategy, along with our employees' continued focus on our vision to be the safest provider of natural gas services, continues to benefit our customers, our communities, and it positions us to continue delivering annual earnings per share growth in the six to eight percent range,” Akers concluded.