Evergy Annual Report, Year Ended Dec 31, 2019

Evergy, Inc. (formerly Monarch Energy Holding, Inc. at incorporation), together with Evergy Kansas Central, Inc. (formerly Westar Energy, Inc.) and Evergy Metro, Inc. (formerly Kansas City Power & Light Company), filed this combined annual report on Form 10-K for fiscal 2019.

Evergy is a public utility holding company headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, serving approximately 1,604,300 customers in Kansas and Missouri and reporting as one segment. For 2019, Evergy reported operating revenues of $5,147.8 million^a, net income attributable to Evergy, Inc. of $669.9 million, and diluted EPS of $2.79, compared with $535.8 million and $2.50 in 2018. Adjusted earnings (non-GAAP) were $694.0 million, or $2.89 per share.

The increase reflects the inclusion of Evergy Metro's and Evergy Missouri West's earnings for the first five months of 2019, partly offset by lower retail sales from cooler summer weather and higher depreciation. The company is pursuing a capital plan with about $7.6 billion^b of anticipated rate base investment from 2020 through 2024, and projected total capital expenditures of $1,618 million in 2020. Evergy repurchased $1,628.7 million of common stock in 2019 under a program authorized in July 2018, bringing cumulative repurchases to $2,671.0 million.

The filing states that Evergy does not anticipate further repurchases while the newly formed Strategic Review & Operations Committee, created in March 2020, conducts its review of ways to enhance long-term shareholder value, expected to conclude in the first half of 2020. The committee may recommend a potential strategic combination or an enhanced standalone plan. Balance sheet items include total assets of $25,975.9 million^c, long-term debt of $8,746.7 million (noncurrent), and total equity of $8,545.3 million at December 31, 2019.

Credit ratings as of February 20, 2020 were stable outlooks across the companies, with Evergy's corporate credit rating at A- (S&P) and senior unsecured debt at Baa2 (Moody's) and BBB+ (S&P). Key risks disclosed include regulatory lag and rate-setting outcomes, environmental regulation of greenhouse gases and coal combustion residuals, the operation of the Wolf Creek nuclear unit (94% indirectly owned), and weather-driven demand. Evergy also disclosed a $10.2 million^d regulatory liability for Sibley Station revenues subject to possible refund following an MPSC accounting authority order.