Otter Tail Corporation (NASDAQ: OTTR) today announced financial results for the year ended December 31, 2019.
2019 Highlights
Consolidated operating revenues increased to $919.5 million in 2019 compared to $916.4 million in 2018.
Consolidated net income increased 5.5% to $86.8 million.
Diluted earnings per share increased $0.11 or 5.3%.
The corporation's board of directors increased the quarterly common stock dividend to $0.37 per share, an indicated annual dividend rate of $1.48 per share and a 5.7% increase from $1.40 per share in 2019. The dividend is payable on March 10, 2020 to shareholders of record on February 14, 2020.
The corporation expects 2020 diluted earnings per share to be in a range of $2.22 to $2.37.
CEO Overview
'Our team of employees once again achieved strong financial results in 2019, increasing diluted earnings per share to $2.17,' said President and CEO Chuck MacFarlane. 'Our Electric segment led our increase in net income, which improved year-over-year earnings by $4.6 million. Manufacturing segment earnings were flat year over year and our Plastics segment experienced a $3.2 million decline in earnings due to lower volumes and lower operating margins. Corporate costs improved by $3.1 million.
'Construction of Otter Tail Power Company's $258 million, 150-megawatt Merricourt Wind Energy Center in southeastern North Dakota began in August with completion anticipated in October 2020. The project is on budget and continues to have excellent safety performance with no recordable incidents. We project our customers will receive approximately 30 percent of their energy from renewable resources we own or secure through power-purchase agreements by 2021. Construction of our $158 million 245-megawatt Astoria Station natural gas-fired combustion turbine generation project continues to be on schedule and on budget with a commercial operation date expected in late 2020 or early 2021.
'Rate riders are in place or expected to be in place in 2020, providing returns on amounts invested in the Merricourt Wind Energy Center and Astoria Station projects while under construction. The exception is the Minnesota portion of the Astoria Station costs and we will continue to capitalize an allowance for funds used during construction (AFUDC) on the Minnesota share of Astoria Station costs until recovery under interim or general rates commences.
'Otter Tail Power Company has approximately $45 million in planned MISO self-fund transmission investments for generator interconnections in the 2019 through 2021 time period. 'Self-fund' is a transmission investment election made by transmission owners in MISO to fund the initial investment of transmission network upgrades required for generator interconnection and to recover and earn a return on the investment from the interconnection customer over 20 years. As of December 31, 2019, Otter Tail Power Company had Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approval of several agreements providing for recovery on approximately $12 million in self-fund investments.
'Otter Tail Power Company continues to benefit from strong rate base growth investments and expects to invest $897 million in capital projects from 2020 through 2024, including investments in renewable generation and Astoria Station. This results in a projected compounded annual growth rate of 8.2 percent in utility rate base from year-end 2019 through 2024 and is expected to deliver value to customers and shareholders. We continue to make system investments to meet our customers' expectations and enable us to work smarter, reduce emissions and improve reliability and safety.
'Our strategic initiatives to grow our businesses, achieve operational and commercial excellence, and develop our talent are strengthening our position in the markets we serve. We remain confident in our ability to grow earnings per share in the range of 5 to 7 percent compounded annually from a base of $2.17 in 2019. And we are announcing our 2020 earnings per share guidance to be in the range of $2.22-$2.37.'
Cash Flows and Liquidity
Our consolidated cash provided by operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2019 was $185.0 million compared with $143.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2018. Primary reasons for the $41.6 million increase in net cash provided by operating activities between the periods were: A $23.1 million decrease in cash used for working capital items mainly due to significant changes in inventories, accounts payable and accounts receivable between the periods.
Inventory balances decreased by $8.4 million during 2019 compared to an increase of $18.2 million in 2018. This change is due to decreases in raw material costs, primarily steel, from 2018 to 2019 and lower sales volumes in the Plastics segment during 2019 compared to sales levels in 2018.
The level of increases in accounts receivable declined by $6.7 million from 2018 to 2019, primarily due to higher raw material costs reflected in customer billings in 2018 when compared with 2019. Our average collection period on a consolidated basis remained steady at approximately 31 days.
The reductions in cash used for inventories and accounts receivable between the years were partially offset by a $15.2 million reduction in cash from an increase in accounts payable and other current liabilities in 2018 compared with essentially no change in these items in 2019. The primary reason for the increase in accounts payable and other current liabilities in 2018 was due to the recording of refunds for the TCJA and interim rate refunds in North Dakota and South Dakota.
An $11.2 million increase from changes in regulatory asset and liability balances related to fuel cost and Minnesota environmental cost recovery riders included in changes in deferred debits and other assets and changes in noncurrent liabilities and deferred credits.
A $4.5 million increase in net income.
A $3.4 million increase in depreciation and amortization expense.
A $1.5 million increase in non-cash stock-based compensation expense in 2019.
These items were partially offset by: A $2.5 million increase in discretionary contributions to the corporation's funded pension plan in 2019.
Electric Revenue
The $18.2 million increase in retail electric revenue includes: A $10.4 million increase in transmission cost recovery revenues due to recent investments in transmission infrastructure and transmission costs not currently recovered in base rates.
A $2.4 million increase in Minnesota Renewable Resource Adjustment (RRA) rider revenues due to increased cost recovery requirements resulting from the expiration of federal production tax credits (PTCs) in November 2018 on a company-owned wind farm.
A $2.3 million increase in retail revenue related to the recovery of fuel and purchased power costs incurred to serve retail customers.
A $1.9 million increase in retail revenue in South Dakota due to the reversal of a tax refund provision in connection with OTP's 2018 South Dakota rate case settlement agreement.
A $1.4 million increase in average electric prices mainly related to interim and final rate increases in South Dakota.
A $0.9 million increase in revenue related to the establishment of a generation cost recovery rider in North Dakota in 2019 to provide for a return on funds invested in Astoria Station during its construction phase.
A $0.3 million increase in revenue related to the recovery of increased conservation improvement program expenditures in 2019.
A $0.3 million increase in revenue mainly driven by a 4.9% increase in heating degree days in 2019 partially offset by a 30.9% decrease in cooling degree days between the years.
These items were partially offset by a $1.8 million decrease in retail revenue due to a decrease in kwh sales to residential customers.
Transmission services revenues decreased $6.4 million mainly due to a $5.0 million decrease associated with reductions in capital spending and collections through the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc. (MISO) tariff. Otter Tail Power Company also recorded an additional $1.4 million estimated refund obligation due to a November 21, 2019FERC ruling related to the methodology used to determine the Return on Equity (ROE) component of the transmission rate under the MISO tariff. This is mainly based on a reduced ROE from 10.82% to 10.38% for the period from September 28, 2016 through December 31, 2019. The reduced ROE is based on a newly established 9.88% ROE plus the 50-point Regional Transmission Organization adder granted by the FERC on January 5, 2015. The FERC ruling is subject to rehearing requests.
Wholesale electric revenues decreased $2.7 million resulting from a 27.0% decrease in wholesale kwh sales due to fewer opportunities for wholesale sales as Coyote Station was offline during the second quarter of 2019 due to an extended maintenance outage and Hoot Lake Plant Unit 2 was offline for maintenance and repairs in June and July 2019. The decrease in revenues also resulted from decreased regional market demand in the third quarter of 2019 due to cooler summer weather, which drove down wholesale electricity prices.
Electric Costs and Expenses
Production fuel costs decreased $7.6 million mainly as a result of a 16.4% decrease in kwhs generated from our fuel-burning plants due to the maintenance outage at Coyote Station and due to maintenance and repairs at Hoot Lake Plant as noted above. The decrease in fuel costs related to the decrease in generation was partially offset by a 6.1% increase in the cost of fuel per kwh generated at Otter Tail Power Company's fuel-burning plants. The increased cost-per-kwh generated is mostly due to higher absorption of Coyote Creek Mining Company's fixed coal mining costs on less delivered fuel to Coyote Station during its planned spring 2019 maintenance outage.
The cost of purchased power to serve retail customers increased $3.7 million due to a 23.1% increase in kwhs purchased as a result of purchasing replacement power during the maintenance outages at Coyote Station and Hoot Lake Plant. The increase in kwh purchases was partially offset by a 5.1% decrease in kwh purchases in the fourth quarter of 2019 related to Big Stone Plant's availability during the fourth quarter of 2019 compared to the same period last year when the plant was down for scheduled maintenance. The increased costs due to the increase in kwhs purchased were partially mitigated by a 14.4% decrease in the cost per kwh purchased resulting from lower wholesale energy prices in 2019.
About the Corporation
Otter Tail Corporation has interests in diversified operations that include an electric utility and manufacturing businesses. Otter Tail Corporation stock trades on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol OTTR. The latest investor and corporate information are available at www.ottertail.com. Corporate offices are in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, and Fargo, North Dakota.
Contact:
Stephanie Hoff
Tel: (218) 739-8535
OTTER TAIL CORPORATION 
