Essential Utilities (WTRG) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

For the period ending June 30, 2023

August 8, 2023 11:00 a.m. ET

Prepared Remarks

Questions and Answers

Call Participants

Prepared Remarks:

Operator

Hello, and welcome to the Essential Utilities Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. My name is George, I'll be your coordinator for today's event. Please note, this conference is being recorded. [Operator Instructions].

I'd now like to turn the call over to host today, Mr. Brian Dingerdissen to begin today's conference. Please go ahead, sir.

Brian Dingerdissen

Thank you, George. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. I am Brian Dingerdissen, Vice President, Investor Relations and Treasurer at Essential.

If you did not receive a copy of the press release, you can find it by visiting the Investor Relations section of our website at essential.co. The slides that we will be referencing and the webcast of this event can also be found on our site.

Here is our forward-looking statement. As a reminder, some of the matters discussed during this call may include forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results to be materially different from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Please refer to our most recent 10-Q, 10-K and other SEC filings for a description of such risks and uncertainties.

During the course of this call, reference may be made to certain non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of these non-GAAP to GAAP financial measures is included at the end of the presentation and also posted in the Investor Relations section of the website. We'll begin the call today with Chris Franklin, our Chairman and CEO, who will provide an update on the company.

So with that, I will turn the call over to Chris Franklin.

Christopher Franklin

Thanks, Brian, and good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining us today. As a reminder for those of you who may not be as familiar with our story, Essential Utilities is an industry-leading water, wastewater service and natural gas utility. The core of the company's 135-year-old nature is that it's the second largest regulated water utility in the United States with operations in eight states and a proven track record of nearly three decades of growth through acquisition, which, coupled with a substantial capital investment over the same period of time has led to significant and consistent earnings growth.

In addition, Essential Utilities includes the largest gas LDC in Pennsylvania, also with a 135-year history of industry leadership and growth. Together, these utilities form a platform poised to deliver consistent 5% to 7% earnings per share growth. The key component of our long-term rate base growth is the significant need in both water and gas for investment in core infrastructure, and I'm talking about things like pipe and plants. This is the engine, which helps us deliver long-term shareholder value.