WEC Energy Group, Inc. (WEC) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Q4 2022 Results Conference Call February 2, 2023 2:00 PM ET

Company Participants

Gale Klappa - Executive Chairman

Scott Lauber - President and CEO

Xia Liu - CFO

Conference Call Participants

Shar Pourreza - Guggenheim Partners

Julien Dumoulin-Smith - Bank of America

Jeremy Tonet - JPMorgan

Michael Sullivan - Wolfe Research

Durgesh Chopra - Evercore ISI

Andrew Weisel - Scotiabank

Anthony Crowdell - Mizuho

Vedula Murti - Hudson Bay Capital

Operator

Good afternoon, and welcome to WEC Energy Group’s Conference Call for Fourth Quarter and Year End ‘22 Results. This call is being recorded for rebroadcast, and all participants are in a listen-only mode at this time.

Before the conference call begins, I remind you that all statements in the presentation other than historical facts are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that are subject to change at any time. Such statements are based on management’s expectations at the time they are made. In addition to the assumptions and other factors referred to in connection with these statements, factors described in WEC Energy Group’s latest Form 10-K and subsequent reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated.

During the discussions, referenced earnings per share will be based on diluted earnings per share, unless otherwise noted. After the presentation, the conference will be open to analysts for questions and answers. In conjunction with this call, a package of detailed financial information is posted at wecenergygroup.com. The replay will be available approximately two hours after the conclusion of this call.

And now, it’s my pleasure to introduce Gale Klappa, Executive Chairman of WEC Energy Group.

Gale Klappa

Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us today, as we review our results for calendar year 2022. First, I’d like to introduce the members of our management team who are here with me today. We have Scott Lauber, our President and Chief Executive; Xia Liu, our Chief Financial Officer; and Beth Straka, Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations.

Now, as you saw from our news release this morning, we reported full year 2022 earnings of $4.45 a share. Xia will provide you with more detail on our financial metrics in just a few minutes. But I’m pleased to report to you that we delivered an exceptional year on virtually every meaningful measure from employee safety and customer satisfaction to growth in earnings per share. Three major factors really shaped our strong results for 2022: favorable weather; solid performance from our infrastructure and transmission segments; and steady execution of our capital plan, as we paved the way for an energy future that’s affordable, reliable, and clean.