On Tuesday, Unitil (NYSE:UTL) discussed first-quarter financial results during its earnings call. The full transcript is provided below.

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The full earnings call is available at https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/8h4o5v9g/

Summary

Unitil reported adjusted net income of $33.8 million and adjusted earnings per share of $1.88 for Q1 2026, marking an 8% increase from Q1 2025.

The company completed the integration of Maine Natural Gas, contributing significantly to the adjusted gross gas margin, and is now the largest natural gas utility in Maine.

Unitil reaffirmed its 2026 earnings guidance of $3.20 to $3.36 per share, with a midpoint of $3.28, and projected long-term earnings growth of 5-7%.

The company reached a settlement agreement for temporary rates in New Hampshire for its Northern Utilities gas subsidiary, with permanent rates expected by April 2027.

Unitil plans to file a gas rate case in Maine by June 1 and continues to monitor regulatory approvals concerning a pending acquisition in the water sector, which is expected to complement its existing operations.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the first quarter 2026 UNITIL Earnings Conference call. At this time all participants are in a listen only mode. After the speaker's presentation there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during the session you will need to press star 11 on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised to withdraw your question. Please press star. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Chris Golding, Vice President of Finance and Regulatory. Please go ahead.

Chris Golding (Vice President, Finance and Regulatory)

Good afternoon and thank you for joining us to Discuss Unitil Corporation's first quarter 2026 financial results. Speaking on the call today will be Tom Eisner, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and Dan Herstoch, Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. Also with us today are Bob Hebert, President and Chief Administrative Officer and Todd Diggins, Chief Accounting Officer and Controller. We will discuss financial and other information on this call. As we mentioned in the press release announcing today's call, we have posted information including a presentation to the Investor section of our [email protected]. We will refer to that information during this call. Moving to Slide 2 the comments made today about future operating results or events are forward looking statements under the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform act of 1995. Forward looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that can cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted. Statements made on this call should be considered together with cautionary statements and other information contained in our most recent Annual report on Form 10-K and other documents we have filed with or furnished to the securities and Exchange Commission. Forward looking statements speak only as of today and we assume no obligation to update them. This presentation contains non Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) financial measures. The accompanying supplemental information more fully describes these non Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) financial measures and includes a reconciliation to the nearest Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) financial measures. The Company believes these non Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) financial measures are useful in evaluating its performance. With that, I will now turn the call over to Chairman and CEO Tom Eisner.

Tom Eisner (Chairman and Chief Executive Officer)

Great. Thanks Chris. Good afternoon everyone and thanks for joining us today. I'll begin on Slide 3 where today we announced adjusted net income excluding transaction related costs of 33.8 million and adjusted earnings per share of $1.88 for the first quarter of 2026. This represents an increase of $0.14 per share or 8% compared to the first quarter of 2025. We are fully earning our authorized returns on a trailing twelve month basis with a GAAP return on equity of 9.6%. We have several positive business updates to share this quarter. Integration work for our main gas acquisitions has proceeded as planned. Bangor Natural Gas Company was fully integrated last year and the integration of Maine Natural Gas is now substantially complete with most corporate services now being provided by Unitil Corporation. In other business, we recently received an order for our New Hampshire Electric rate case approving the settlement agreement in its entirety. We also recently filed a rate case for Northern Utilities gas subsidiary in New Hampshire. We expect to file a gas rate case for Northern Utilities in Maine on or about June 1st. Dan will provide additional details about these rate filings later during this call. Given the strong Results for the first quarter, we are reaffirming our 2026 guidance range of $3.20 to $3.36 per share with a midpoint of $3.28. We are also reaffirming our long term earnings growth of 5 to 7%. Turning to Slide 4, we are now the largest natural gas utility in Maine serving approximately 90% of all gas customers. The acquisitions of Bangor Natural Gas Company and Maine Natural Gas meaningfully increased our rate base and will be accretive to earnings over the long term. In the most recent quarter, Bangor Natural gas contributed 5.1 million and Maine natural gas contributed 6.1 million to adjusted gross gas margin, resulting in a combined 4.1 million of incremental net income before considering financing costs for Maine Natural Gas that are currently being incurred by Unitil Corporation in the short term. As I mentioned, all integration work for Bangor Natural Gas Company was completed last year and we recently completed the integration work for most corporate services for Maine Natural Gas. The success of these integration efforts was made possible by leveraging our experienced workforce and by our seasoned, locally managed operational framework. We continue to realize the operating and financial benefits of these transactions. Consistent with our original expectations, the next significant milestone for these companies will be to establish cost of service rates under Unitil's ownership, with rate filings expected in the first half of 2027. Turning now to slide five we continue to monitor regulatory approvals in Connecticut pertaining to the sale of aquarium from Eversource Energy to the Aquarian Water Authority. This sale received approval from the Connecticut Public Utilities regulatory authority on March 25. More recently, on April 30, the authority denied a petition for reconsideration and we understand the current appeal period will now expire in mid June. Absent any additional filings in this proceeding, the closing of this transaction between Eversource Energy and the Aquarian Water Authority must occur prior to our transaction with the Water Authority. As I've said before, the Aquarian water companies are an ideal fit with our existing utility operations given their geographic proximity, potential for synergies and strong growth profile. We view the pending acquisition as highly complementary to our fully regulated portfolio, supporting rate base growth above the upper end of our long term range and enabling opportunities for future growth. Building on our successful integration of the Maine Gas acquisitions, we are well positioned to integrate these water companies following the closing of the transaction. With that, I'll now pass it over to Dan who will provide greater detail on our first quarter financial results.

Dan Herstoch (Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer)

Thank you, Tom Good afternoon everyone. I'll begin on Slide 6. As Tom mentioned, we announced first quarter 2026 adjusted net income of $33.8 million and adjusted earnings per share of $1.88, representing an increase of $5.4 million in adjusted net income or $0.14 per share compared to the same period in 2025. We are reporting adjusted earnings that exclude transaction costs related to our gas acquisitions in the announced water transaction, which we view as not indicative of the Company's ongoing costs and operations. Our first quarter results were supported by higher distribution rates and customer growth partially offset by higher operating expenses. Our first quarter results also include a charge of approximately $900,000 related to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) transmission formula rate proceeding in the order that was issued by Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in this proceeding on March 19, 2026. This charge represents the refund obligation for a retroactive reduction to the return equity for transmission assets from 10.57% to 9.57%. The company's transmission rate base subject to this Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) decision is approximately 1/2 of 1% of total rate base and the Company does not expect this order will have a significant effect on future earnings. Turning to Slide 7, I will discuss our electric and gas adjusted gross margins. I will begin with our electric operations. Electric adjusted gross margin for the first quarter was $29.6 million, an increase of $2.1 million as compared to the same period in 2025. The increase reflects higher rates of $2.8 million, partially offset by the onetime reduction of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) transmission revenue of $0.7 million. For the return on equity matter that I previously mentioned, the Company also recorded approximately $200,000 of interest associated with the transmission return equity matter which is recorded in interest expense. As noted during prior calls, all of our electric customers are under decoupled rates, which eliminates the dependency of distribution revenue on the volume of electricity sales. Moving to Gas operations Gas adjusted Gross margin for the first quarter was $82.1 million, an increase of $11.2 million compared to the same period in 2025. The increase in gas adjusted gross margin was driven by higher rates in customer growth of $10.3 million and the favorable effects of colder winter weather in 2026 of $0.9 million. Gas adjusted gross margin for the quarter includes $6 million related to Maine Natural Gas. The higher rates in the first quarter of 2026 were driven by inflation adjustments under our performance based rate plan for our Fitchburg subsidiary and capital trackers. The company added approximately 7,100 new gas customers compared to the same period in 2025, including 6,400 customers from the acquisition of Maine Natural Gas. Approximately 52% of the company's gas customers are under decoupled rates, with Maine representing our only non decoupled service area. Moving to Slide 8 we provide an earnings bridge comparing first quarter 2026 results to the same period in 2025. The combined adjusted gross margin for our electric and gas divisions increased by $13.3 million, which reflects higher rates, colder winter weather and customer growth. Operation and Maintenance expenses increased $0.8 million due to higher utility operating costs of $1.1 million, partially offset by lower transaction costs of $0.3 million. Operation and maintenance expense includes $1.3 million of utility operating costs related to Maine natural gas. Excluding Maine natural gas and transaction costs, operation and maintenance expenses for legacy operations would have decreased by $0.2 million compared to the first quarter 2025. The increases in depreciation and amortization expense and taxes other than income taxes reflect higher levels of utility point and service as well as the inclusion of amounts related to Maine natural gas in 2026. Moving to Slide 9 I'm pleased to note that last week the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission issued an order approving the settlement agreement in its entirety for permanent rates for our New Hampshire Electric Company. The order approves a base rate increase of $13 million based on pro forma rate base as of December 31, 2024 of $289 million, which reflects a post test year adjustment to include the Kingston solar facility. The authorized return on equity is 9.45% with an equity layer of 52.67% compared to the previously approved return on equity of 9.2% and equity layer of 52%. The settlement maintains revenue decoupling. However, the decoupling methodology changed from an authorized revenue per customer model to a total authorized revenue target. As a reminder In New Hampshire, permanent rate case awards are reconciled back to the effective date of the temporary rate award and are subject to recoupment or refund. In this case, because the permanent rate award was greater than the temporary award, the Company will record approximately $1.7 million of pre tax income in the second quarter. The settlement also included a multi year rate plan that provides for accelerated cost recovery for investments made in 2025 and 2026. The first step adjustment request, which is currently pending approval of the New Hampshire Commission, includes a $3.2 million rate increase effective September 1, 2026. We believe that the constructive outcome reached in this proceeding will allow us to continue to provide the safe and reliable service our customers expect and offers the Company an opportunity to earn its authorized rate of return. Turning to Slide 10 as Tom noted at the outset of the call, we filed a base rate case in New Hampshire for our gas subsidiary Northern Utilities on April 1, 2026. The filing requests a permanent base rate increase of $9.8 million, a temporary rate award of $6 million. I am pleased to say that the Company has reached a settlement agreement for temporary rates with the Department of Energy and the Office of Consumer Advocate that allows for a temporary rate increase of $5.5 million. Temporary rates are expected to take effect June 1 pending commission approval and permanent rates are expected to take effect April 1, 2027. The filing also includes the continuation of revenue decoupling, but similar to our New Hampshire Electric Company, we have proposed a decoupling methodology change from a revenue per customer model to a total authorized revenue target. We've also proposed a multi year rate plan with two step adjustments to recover all 2026 and 2027 system investments. We are expecting to file a base rate case for Northern Utilities with the The Maine Public Utilities Commission on or around June 1st. On April 1st, we filed a notice of intent in Maine which included a rate request of approximately $7.5 million. Similar to our previous rate cases in Maine, we intend on utilizing a historical test year with adjustments to forecast rate base revenues and expenses through the rate effective year to reduce earnings attrition. We will provide additional details regarding these proceedings on future calls. Turning to Slide 11 as noted during our previous earnings call, our current five year capital investment plan through 2030 totals approximately $1.2 billion, which is an increase of $200 million or 20% compared to our previous five year plan. This updated investment plan includes approximately $65 million for Bangor Natural Gas and Maine Natural Gas, but does not reflect any amounts for the pending aquarian water acquisition with the addition of the two main gas companies, rate base increased 17% compared to the prior year and average rate base growth has been 8.1% over the past five years which is near the upper end of our long term rate based growth guidance of 6.5% to 8.5%. Moving to slide 12 we continue to prudently manage our balance sheet, targeting a balanced mix of common equity and long term debt to maintain our investment grade credit ratings. Our primary funding source for our five year investment plan is our stable cash flow from operations with additional funding from long term debt and equity. On April 30th we issued $40 million of senior notes at our Fitchburg subsidiary to repay short term debt and for general corporate purposes. As of today, the company has approximately $160 million of capacity available on its revolving credit facility. The company also has access to Equity via its ATM program which has $48.5 million of available capacity. As a reminder, the company has committed debt financing for the pending Aquarian acquisition. We anticipate that the ultimate funding for the pending water transaction could be satisfied by a combination of ATM proceeds and senior notes at the holding company or operating companies. We plan to maintain a level of holding company debt consistent with rating agency expectations. As we discussed last quarter, our annualized dividend for 2026 is $1.90 per share, representing an increase of 5.6% compared to 2025. Our dividend payout ratio target range remains at 55% to 65%. Turning to slide 13 with our strong first quarter and constructive rate case outcome for our New Hampshire Electric Company, we reaffirm our 2026 earnings guidance of $3.20 to $3.36 per share with a midpoint of $3.28 per share. The midpoint of our 2026 guidance represents 6.1% growth relative to the midpoint of our 2025 guidance. We have also presented our expected 2026 quarterly earnings per share distribution which highlights the seasonal nature of of our earnings. I will now turn the call back over to Tom.

Tom Eisner (Chairman and Chief Executive Officer)

Great. Thanks Dan. Ending now on Slide 14, the first quarter provided a strong start to the year. Our core businesses are performing well and we are executing on our strategic initiatives. Our value proposition remains unchanged, investing in low risk regulated assets that generate stable cash flows while ensuring our customers are provided with top tier utility service. We look forward to providing additional updates on our progress throughout the remainder of the year. With that, I'll pass the call back to Chris.

Chris Golding (Vice President, Finance and Regulatory)

Thanks Tom. That wraps up the prepared material for this call. Thank you for attending. I will now turn the call over to the operator who will coordinate questions.

OPERATOR

Thank you. As a reminder to ask a question, please press star 11 on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star 11 again. Please stand by while we compile the Q and A roster. And our first question comes from Andrew Weissel with Scotiabank. Your line is open.

Rebecca Gabler

Hi, this is Rebecca Gabler on for Andrew Wiesel. Given the recent updates with respect to Aquarian, will the terms and conditions of the Aquarian approval have any impact on your earnings outlook?

Dan Herstoch (Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer)

Rebecca, are you speaking about any state in particular? No, just in general. I think, as Tom mentioned earlier, the transaction between Eversource Energy and the Aquarion Water Authority is a condition for our transaction to move forward. So we are keenly watching what happens in Connecticut and we understand that the current appeal period for the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) order goes through mid June. As far as the other states, if you look at the Massachusetts order that was issued earlier this year, it contained two conditions, one related to the sale of Hingham assets and one related to a stay out period. As we said in the Motion for Reconsideration and Clarification, the risk that those two matters pose to us is something that is unacceptable for us and would likely prevent us from moving forward with the Massachusetts operations as part of the transaction.

Rebecca Gabler

Got it. That's helpful. And then just a quick second question. Given the spike in oil prices since the conflict in Iran started, have you guys seen any changes in customer behavior, pace of conversion from oil, or even the tone of conversations with regulators around customer behavior related to these issues? Thank you.

Tom Meissner

Hi, Rebecca, this is Tom Meissner. I think it's too soon to see any of those trends emerge because it's been really just a short period of time. But to your point, the cost of oil has increased dramatically for home heating. And realistically, we probably Enjoy almost a 2 to 1 price advantage right now. So we do hope to take advantage of that. And we do believe that natural gas offers a much more affordable choice for customers to heat their homes. Got it. Thank you.

OPERATOR

Thank you again. To ask a question, please press star 11 on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. Once again, that is star 11 to ask a question. I'm showing no further questions at this time. This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

Disclaimer: This transcript is provided for informational purposes only. While we strive for accuracy, there may be errors or omissions in this automated transcription. For official company statements and financial information, please refer to the company's SEC filings and official press releases. Corporate participants' and analysts' statements reflect their views as of the date of this call and are subject to change without notice.