8-KRegulation FD

AMERICAN ELECTRIC POWER CO INC 8-K Report, Regulation FD Disclosure (Jun 8, 2010)

Filed June 8, 2010For Securities:AEP

Summary

American Electric Power Company, Inc. (AEP) filed an 8-K on June 8, 2010, to disclose information related to upcoming investor meetings scheduled between June 8 and June 16, 2010. The primary purpose of this filing was to reaffirm the company's previously issued guidance for ongoing earnings per share (EPS) for the 2010 fiscal year, which was set at a range of $2.80 to $3.20. This guidance was first communicated in a prior 8-K filing on April 29, 2010. AEP management emphasizes that "ongoing earnings" (GAAP earnings adjusted for certain items) are considered a more meaningful metric for assessing the company's performance and are used internally and externally for reporting and performance measurement. The filing also includes a standard disclaimer about forward-looking statements, highlighting various factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from projections, including regulatory decisions, fuel costs, generation capacity, economic conditions, and legislative changes.

Key Highlights

  • 1AEP reaffirms 2010 ongoing EPS guidance of $2.80 to $3.20 per share.
  • 2Guidance was previously issued on April 29, 2010, via an 8-K filing.
  • 3Company management uses 'ongoing earnings' as a key performance metric, which excludes certain items from GAAP earnings.
  • 4Investor meetings are scheduled from June 8, 2010, through June 16, 2010.
  • 5The filing contains standard forward-looking statements and risk factors.
  • 6Potential influencing factors on future results include regulatory decisions, fuel costs, and economic conditions.

Frequently Asked Questions

The main purpose of this 8-K filing is to notify investors that American Electric Power Company, Inc. (AEP) will be holding investor meetings between June 8 and June 16, 2010, and to reaffirm its previously issued guidance for 2010 ongoing earnings per share (EPS) of $2.80 to $3.20.

AEP's 'ongoing earnings' refer to GAAP earnings that have been adjusted for certain items. Management considers this metric a more meaningful representation of the company's performance and uses it as its primary measure when communicating financial outlook and results to analysts and investors, as well as for internal performance tracking.

No, this filing does not present new financial projections. It serves to reaffirm the existing 2010 ongoing EPS guidance of $2.80 to $3.20, which was initially provided in a prior 8-K filing on April 29, 2010.

The filing lists numerous potential factors that could cause actual results to differ from forward-looking statements. These include electric load growth, weather conditions, fuel costs and availability, generating capacity performance, regulatory decisions (including rate cases and environmental compliance), litigation, operational costs, economic climate in service territories, financial market conditions, and legislative changes.