8-KRegulation FD

AMERICAN ELECTRIC POWER CO INC 8-K Report, Regulation FD Disclosure (Oct 3, 2011)

Filed October 3, 2011For Securities:AEP

Summary

This Form 8-K filing from American Electric Power Company, Inc. (AEP) on October 3, 2011, primarily serves as a notification of upcoming investor meetings scheduled for October 6, 2011. During these meetings, AEP management will reaffirm its previously issued earnings guidance for the 2011 fiscal year, projecting ongoing earnings per share to be between $3.00 and $3.20. The company emphasizes its use of "ongoing earnings," which are GAAP earnings adjusted for certain items, as its primary performance metric for communicating with investors and analysts. This metric is also used internally for performance evaluation and reporting to the board of directors. While reaffirming guidance, the filing also includes a comprehensive list of risk factors that could materially impact actual future results, covering areas such as regulatory decisions, fuel costs, economic conditions, and environmental regulations.

Key Highlights

  • 1AEP is holding investor meetings on October 6, 2011.
  • 2The company will reaffirm its 2011 fiscal year ongoing earnings per share guidance of $3.00 to $3.20.
  • 3AEP utilizes 'ongoing earnings' (adjusted GAAP earnings) as its key performance indicator for investor communications.
  • 4The filing reiterates the company's use of ongoing earnings for internal performance measurement and board reporting.
  • 5A detailed list of forward-looking risk factors that could affect future results is provided.
  • 6These risk factors encompass a wide range of potential impacts, including regulatory, operational, economic, and environmental challenges.

Frequently Asked Questions

The primary purpose of this 8-K filing is to inform investors about upcoming meetings with AEP management and to announce that the company will reaffirm its previously stated earnings guidance for the 2011 fiscal year.

AEP is reaffirming its guidance for ongoing earnings per share for the 2011 fiscal year to be in the range of $3.00 to $3.20.

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

AEP outlines a broad spectrum of risks, including electric load and customer growth, weather conditions, fuel costs and availability, generating capacity performance, regulatory decisions (e.g., rate cases, environmental compliance), litigation (e.g., Clean Air Act), operational costs, asset sales, economic conditions in its service territory, financial market conditions, and changes in utility regulation.