8-KRegulation FD

AMERICAN ELECTRIC POWER CO INC 8-K Report, Regulation FD Disclosure (Jul 9, 2010)

Filed July 9, 2010For Securities:AEP

Summary

This Form 8-K filing from American Electric Power Company, Inc. (AEP) on July 9, 2010, announces that the company will be reaffirming its previously issued full-year 2010 earnings per share guidance of $2.80 to $3.20. This guidance was initially provided on April 29, 2010. The company emphasizes its use of "ongoing earnings," which are GAAP earnings adjusted for certain items, as its primary performance measurement when communicating with investors and analysts. Investors should note that this reaffirmation suggests management's confidence in achieving their previously stated financial targets for the fiscal year. The filing also includes a standard disclaimer about forward-looking statements, highlighting various factors that could potentially cause actual results to differ from projections. These factors encompass a wide range of operational, regulatory, economic, and market-related risks that are typical for a large utility company.

Key Highlights

  • 1AEP reaffirms its 2010 fiscal year ongoing earnings per share guidance of $2.80 to $3.20.
  • 2The reaffirmation occurs during an investor meeting on July 9, 2010.
  • 3AEP utilizes "ongoing earnings" (adjusted GAAP earnings) as its primary metric for communicating financial outlook and performance to investors and analysts.
  • 4The company uses ongoing earnings for internal performance measurement and reporting to the board of directors.
  • 5The filing includes a comprehensive list of risk factors that could impact future results, as is customary for forward-looking statements.
  • 6No new financial information or guidance adjustments are being introduced; the purpose is to confirm existing expectations.

Frequently Asked Questions

The main purpose of this 8-K filing is to publicly reaffirm American Electric Power's (AEP) previously issued guidance for its 2010 fiscal year ongoing earnings per share, which is set between $2.80 and $3.20. This confirmation is being made in conjunction with an investor meeting.

AEP defines 'ongoing earnings' as GAAP earnings adjusted for certain items. The company considers this a more meaningful representation of its performance and uses it as its primary performance measurement when communicating its earnings outlook and results to analysts and investors, as well as for internal performance tracking.

No, this filing does not introduce any changes to AEP's financial guidance. The company is specifically reaffirming its prior guidance of $2.80 to $3.20 per share for the 2010 fiscal year, which was initially stated on April 29, 2010.

The filing lists a broad range of risk factors, including electric load and customer growth, weather conditions, fuel costs and availability, generating capacity performance, regulatory decisions (such as rate cases and environmental compliance), litigation (including Clean Air Act actions), operational costs, asset sales, economic conditions in service territories, market demand, commodity price volatility, financing and capital market conditions, accounting changes, and the performance of retirement benefit plans. These are standard risks for a large utility company.