Alliant Energy also affirms 2007 earnings guidance
MADISON, Wis., Dec. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Alliant Energy Corporation (NYSE:LNT) announced today that its board of directors has approved an increase in its 2008 expected annual common stock dividend to $1.40 per share from the current annual dividend of $1.27 per share. Payment of the 2008 quarterly dividends will be subject to the actual dividend declaration by the board of directors, which is expected in January for the initial quarterly dividend. The increase is consistent with the Company’s previously announced desire to achieve a targeted dividend payout ratio of 60 to 70 percent of the earnings of its utility subsidiaries.
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“The Board is pleased to announce this increase,” said William D. Harvey, Alliant Energy’s Chairman, President and CEO. “It is quite satisfying to raise the dividend by more than 10% while remaining committed to meeting the ongoing capital requirements of the company and growing our earnings.”
Guidance
Alliant Energy affirmed its 2007 earnings guidance of $2.52 – $2.62 per share. The 2007 guidance does not include any after tax gains on the announced sale of the IPL transmission assets. Alliant Energy plans to report its 2007 financial results on February 6, 2008.
Alliant Energy also announced guidance for 2008 earnings from continuing operations of $2.55 – 2.75 per share. Additional details of the guidance are as follows:
Reaffirmed
2007 2008
Guidance* GuidanceUtility business $2.27 – 2.37 $2.23 – 2.43
Non-regulated business 0.19 – 0.23 0.19 – 0.23
Parent company 0.03 – 0.05 0.10 – 0.12
Alliant Energy $2.52 – 2.62 $2.55 – 2.75
* This non-GAAP financial measure is being used to provide a better comparison between 2007 guidance and 2008 guidance.
The 2008 guidance reflects the impacts of the announced sale. The 2007 and 2008 guidance does not include the impact of any potential asset valuation charges that Alliant Energy may incur, the impact of certain non-cash mark-to-market adjustments, the impact of any future adjustments made to Alliant Energy’s deferred tax asset valuation allowances, the impacts of any cumulative effects of changes in accounting principles or any gains/losses and related tax impact that may be realized from possible sales of certain Alliant Energy investments that would be reported in earnings from continuing operations. Finally, the guidance also assumes that no businesses will be re-classified to or from “discontinued operations”.
Drivers for Alliant Energy’s earnings from continuing operations estimates include, but are not limited to:
— Normal weather conditions in its utility service territories
— Continuing economic development and sales growth in its utility
service territories
— Continuing cost controls and operational efficiencies
— Ability of its utility subsidiaries to recover their operating costs
and deferred expenditures and to earn a reasonable rate of return in
current and future rate proceedings, as well as their ability to
recover purchased power, fuel and fuel-related costs through rates in
a timely manner
— Other stable business conditions
— Closing of the pending sale of IPL’s transmission assets in 2007 and
the elimination of IPL transmission business results following the
sale
— IPL transmission sale proceeds used to make a dividend to parent,
reduce debt, and for general corporate purposes
— Execution of its utility subsidiaries generation buildout and
environmental expenditure plans
— Ability to utilize any tax capital losses generated to-date, and those
that may be generated in the future, before they expireProjected Capital Expenditures
Alliant Energy’s anticipated capital expenditures for 2008-2010 are as
follows (in millions):IPL WPL Alliant Energy
2008 2009 2010 2008 2009 2010 2008 2009 2010
Utility
business
Generation $160 $300 $655 $260 $360 $700 $420 $570 $1,355
– new
facilities
230 70 5 50 150 180 280 220 185
Environmental
Utility 215 205 260 215 225 170 430 430 430
asset
maintenance
Non-regulated – – – – – – 10 10 10
business
Total $605 $575 $920 $525 $735 $1,050 $1,140 $1,230 $1,980Conference Call
A conference call to review the 2008 financial guidance is scheduled for Thursday, December 20th at 9:00 a.m. central time. Alliant Energy Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer William D. Harvey and Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Eliot G. Protsch will host the call. The conference call is open to the public and can be accessed in two ways. Interested parties may listen to the call by dialing 866-454-4207 (United States or Canada) or 913-312-6697 (International), passcode 6721460. Interested parties may also listen to a webcast at http://www.alliantenergy.com/investors. In conjunction with the information in this financial guidance call, Alliant Energy posted on its Web site supplemental information including a reconciliation of its 2007 and 2008 earnings from continuing operations. A replay of the call will be available through December 27, 2007, at 888-203-1112 (United States or Canada) or 719-457-0820 (International), passcode 6721460. An archive of the webcast will be available on the Company’s Web site at http://www.alliantenergy.com/investors for at least twelve months.
Alliant Energy is the parent company of two public utility companies — Interstate Power and Light Company (IP&L) and Wisconsin Power and Light Company (WP&L) — and of Alliant Energy Resources, Inc., the parent company of Alliant Energy’s non-regulated operations. Alliant Energy is an energy-services provider with subsidiaries serving approximately 1 million electric and approximately 400,000 natural gas customers. Providing its customers in the Midwest with regulated electricity and natural gas service is the Company’s primary focus. Alliant Energy, headquartered in Madison, Wis., is a Fortune 1000 company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol LNT. For more information, visit the Company’s Web site at http://www.alliantenergy.com/.
This press release includes forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements can be identified as such because the statements include words such as “expect” or other words of similar import. Similarly, statements that describe future financial performance or plans or strategies are forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated. Actual results could be affected by the following factors, among others: federal and state regulatory or governmental actions, including the impact of energy-related and tax legislation and regulatory agency orders; the ability to obtain adequate and timely rate relief to allow for, among other things, the recovery of operating costs and deferred expenditures, the earning of reasonable rates of return and the payment of expected levels of dividends; current or future litigation, regulatory investigations, proceedings or inquiries; economic and political conditions in Alliant Energy’s service territories; Alliant Energy’s ability to achieve its dividend payout ratio goal; the growth rate of ethanol production in Alliant Energy’s service territories; issues related to the availability of Alliant Energy’s generating facilities and the supply and delivery of fuel and purchased electricity and price thereof, including the ability to recover and retain purchased power, fuel and fuel-related costs through rates in a timely manner; the impact fuel and fuel-related prices and other economic conditions may have on customer demand for utility services; unanticipated impacts that storms or natural disasters in Alliant Energy’s service territories may have on Alliant Energy’s operations; Alliant Energy’s ability to collect unpaid utility bills; unanticipated issues in connection with Alliant Energy’s construction of new generating facilities; unanticipated issues in connection with WPL’s proposed purchase of Alliant Energy Resources’ electric generating facility in Neenah, Wisconsin; unanticipated construction and acquisition expenditures; issues associated with Alliant Energy’s environmental remediation efforts and with environmental compliance generally; the impact of potential future greenhouse gas emission legislation or regulations; financial impacts of Alliant Energy’s hedging strategies, including the impact of weather hedges on Alliant Energy’s utility earnings; issues related to electric transmission, including operating in the Midwest Independent System Operator (MISO) energy market, the impacts of potential future billing adjustments from MISO and recovery of costs incurred; unanticipated issues related to the Calpine Corporation bankruptcy that could adversely impact Alliant Energy’s purchased power agreements; the direct or indirect effects resulting from terrorist incidents or responses to such incidents; unplanned outages at Alliant Energy’s generating facilities and risks related to recovery of incremental costs through rates; continued access to the capital markets; inflation and interest rates; developments that adversely impact Alliant Energy’s ability to implement its strategic plan, including the divestiture of IPL’s electric transmission assets, on a timely basis, for anticipated proceeds and IPL’s ability to successfully resolve the judicial review action filed by the Office of Consumer Advocate with respect to such divestiture; any material post-closing adjustments related to any of Alliant Energy’s past asset divestitures; employee workforce factors, including changes in key executives, collective bargaining agreements or work stoppages; access to technological developments; the impact of necessary accruals or adjustments for the terms of Alliant Energy’s incentive compensation plans; the effect of accounting pronouncements issued periodically by standard-setting bodies; the ability to utilize tax capital losses and net operating losses before they expire; the ability to successfully complete ongoing tax audits and appeals with no material impact on Alliant Energy’s earnings and cash flows; and the factors listed in the “Guidance” section and the “Projected Capital Expenditures” section of this press release. These factors should be considered when evaluating the forward-looking statements and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. Without limitation, the expectations with respect to projected earnings in the “Guidance” section and the “Projected Capital Expenditures” section of this press release are forward-looking statements and are based in part on certain assumptions made by Alliant Energy, some of which are referred to in the forward-looking statements. Alliant Energy cannot provide any assurance that the assumptions referred to in the forward-looking statements or otherwise are accurate or will prove to be correct. Any assumptions that are inaccurate or do not prove to be correct could have a material adverse effect on Alliant Energy’s ability to achieve the estimates or other targets included in the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements included herein are made as of the date hereof and Alliant Energy undertakes no obligation to update publicly such statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
Note: Unless otherwise noted, all “per share” references in this release
refer to earnings per diluted share.
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Source: Alliant Energy Corporation
