EPCOR Announces 2021 Financial Results

EDMONTON, Alberta, Feb. 17, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- EPCOR Utilities Inc. (EPCOR) today filed its annual and fourth quarter results for 2021.

“Throughout 2021, EPCOR’s people continued to deliver safe and reliable utility services for our customers across North America,” said Stuart Lee, EPCOR President and CEO. “Our teams successfully responded to extreme weather events and changing weather patterns from a February deep freeze in Texas to a July heat wave in western North America. Operational and safety performance remained strong, and we significantly outperformed many of the reliability benchmarks set for our utilities.”

“More than $1 billion was invested in capital projects and an acquisition, designed to maintain service reliability and support growth,” said Mr. Lee. “The acquisition and smooth integration of our San Tan utilities in Arizona, and our extension of natural gas service to communities in the Southern Bruce region of Ontario, further expanded our customer base.”

“On a full-year basis, EPCOR’s financial performance demonstrated the value of a diversified utility portfolio," said Mr. Lee. “Hot, dry weather in Alberta contributed to higher water sales and lower treatment costs due to improved raw water conditions in the North Saskatchewan River. This was partly offset by lower water sales in Arizona and New Mexico due to their relatively wet summer, and lower than expected performance from our Alberta regulated electricity segment which is partly at risk for energy procurement costs that do not flow-through to customers. EPCOR's financial results also reflect a gain on the expropriation of our Bullhead City water utility systems."

“The continuous growth and development of EPCOR’s business is supporting an increase in the dividend returns to our Shareholder, the City of Edmonton, from $171 million in 2021 to $177 million in 2022,” said Mr. Lee.

Highlights of EPCOR’s financial performance are as follows:

• Net income was $101 million and $388 million for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2021, respectively, compared with net income of $64 million and $276 million for the comparative periods in 2020, respectively. The increase was primarily due to the gain on expropriation of the Bullhead City water utility systems, favorable fair value adjustments related to financial electricity purchase contracts and higher Adjusted EBITDA¹, partially offset by higher income tax and depreciation expenses.
• Adjusted EBITDA was $203 million and $843 million for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2021, respectively, compared with $200 million and $775 million for the comparative periods in 2020, respectively. The increase was primarily due to higher rates and customer growth, Adjusted EBITDA from the newly acquired San Tan operations and lower provision for expected credit losses from customers, partially offset by higher operating costs including staff costs.
• Investment in capital projects was $1,036 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2021, compared with $938 million for the corresponding period in 2020, and included the acquisition of San Tan operations ($127 million), higher capital spending in the Company’s Water Services, Distribution and Transmission and U.S. Operations segments to maintain reliability of the infrastructure and meet the increasing customer growth, partially offset by lower spending in Energy Service segment and Other due to completion of major capital initiatives in 2020.

Management’s discussion and analysis and the audited consolidated financial statements are available on EPCOR’s website (www.epcor.com) and SEDAR (www.sedar.com).

EPCOR, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, builds, owns and operates electrical, natural gas and water transmission and distribution networks, water and wastewater treatment facilities, sanitary and stormwater systems, and infrastructure in Canada and the United States. The Company also provides electricity, natural gas and water products and services to residential and commercial customers. EPCOR, headquartered in Edmonton, is committed to conducting its business and operations safely and responsibly. Environmental Stewardship, public health and community well-being are at the heart of EPCOR’s mission to provide clean water and safe, reliable energy. EPCOR is an Alberta Top 75 employer and is ranked among Corporate Knights’ 2021 Best 50 Corporate Citizens in Canada.

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Management’s Discussion and Analysis can be viewed at http://ml.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/3a6b1116-ca9a-47dd-a97b-f2de99e05a4a