8-KRegulation FD

AMERICAN ELECTRIC POWER CO INC 8-K Report, Regulation FD Disclosure (Jun 3, 2009)

Filed June 3, 2009For Securities:AEP

Summary

American Electric Power Company, Inc. (AEP) filed an 8-K on June 3, 2009, to provide an update regarding investor meetings scheduled between June 3 and June 11, 2009. During these meetings, the company intends to reaffirm its previously issued guidance for ongoing earnings per share for the fiscal year 2009, which remains in the range of $2.75 to $3.05. This guidance was initially communicated in an 8-K filing on April 24, 2009. The company emphasized its use of 'ongoing earnings,' which adjusts GAAP earnings for specific items, as its primary performance metric for communicating with investors and analysts. Management believes this metric offers a more meaningful representation of AEP's financial performance and is used internally for performance measurement and reporting to the board of directors. The filing also includes standard forward-looking statement disclaimers, outlining various factors that could materially affect actual results.

Key Highlights

  • 1AEP is reaffirming its 2009 ongoing earnings per share guidance of $2.75 to $3.05.
  • 2The guidance reaffirmation is occurring during investor meetings from June 3 to June 11, 2009.
  • 3AEP uses 'ongoing earnings' (adjusted GAAP earnings) as its primary performance metric for investor communications.
  • 4Management believes 'ongoing earnings' provide a more meaningful representation of the company's performance.
  • 5The company uses 'ongoing earnings' internally for performance measurement and board reporting.
  • 6The filing contains standard forward-looking statement disclosures with a list of potential risk factors.

Frequently Asked Questions

The primary purpose of this 8-K filing is to inform investors that AEP management will be holding meetings with them and will be reaffirming the company's previously issued guidance for its 2009 ongoing earnings per share. This guidance remains between $2.75 and $3.05.

AEP defines 'ongoing earnings' as GAAP earnings adjusted for certain items. Management uses this metric because they believe it provides a more meaningful representation of the company's financial performance compared to standard GAAP earnings. It is the primary metric AEP uses when communicating its earnings outlook and results to analysts and investors, as well as for internal performance measurement.

The filing lists numerous factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements. These include, but are not limited to, electric load and customer growth, weather conditions, fuel costs and availability, generating capacity performance, regulatory decisions (including recovery of costs and environmental compliance), litigation, economic climate in its service territory, financial market conditions, changes in commodity prices, and potential catastrophic events.