8-KRegulation FD

AMERICAN ELECTRIC POWER CO INC 8-K Report, Regulation FD Disclosure (Mar 14, 2011)

Filed March 14, 2011For Securities:AEP

Summary

American Electric Power Company, Inc. (AEP) filed an 8-K on March 14, 2011, to announce that management would be reaffirming its prior guidance for ongoing earnings per share (EPS) for the fiscal year 2011. The company expects ongoing EPS to be in the range of $3.00 to $3.20. This guidance was initially established and previously communicated on January 28, 2011. AEP management emphasizes the use of "ongoing earnings," which are GAAP earnings adjusted for certain items, as a more meaningful measure of financial performance for investors and internal performance tracking. The filing also includes standard forward-looking statements and a disclaimer that the company has no obligation to update this information, outlining various factors that could materially affect actual results.

Key Highlights

  • 1AEP reaffirmed its 2011 ongoing earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $3.00 to $3.20.
  • 2This guidance was previously communicated on January 28, 2011, and is being reaffirmed during investor meetings from March 14-24, 2011.
  • 3The company uses 'ongoing earnings' (adjusted GAAP earnings) as its primary performance metric for investor communications.
  • 4AEP's management believes ongoing earnings offer a more meaningful representation of the company's financial performance.
  • 5The filing includes a comprehensive list of risk factors that could impact future financial results.
  • 6AEP explicitly disclaims any obligation to update forward-looking statements.

Frequently Asked Questions

The primary purpose of this 8-K filing is to inform investors that American Electric Power (AEP) management will be reaffirming its previously issued guidance for 2011 ongoing earnings per share (EPS) during upcoming investor meetings.

AEP reaffirmed its guidance for 2011 ongoing earnings per share (EPS) to be in the range of $3.00 to $3.20.

AEP management believes that 'ongoing earnings,' which are GAAP earnings adjusted for certain items, provide a more meaningful representation of the company's operational performance and outlook for analysts and investors. They also use this metric internally for performance measurement.

The filing lists numerous risk factors that could materially affect AEP's actual results, including electric load and customer growth, weather conditions, fuel costs and availability, generating capacity performance, regulatory decisions, new legislation, litigation, operating costs, economic climate, financial market conditions, and changes in commodity prices.