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Duke Energy: A Safe High-Yield Dividend Stock For Retirement

Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK ) is a favorite high-yield dividend stock for income investors, and it’s no wonder why. The company has paid uninterrupted quarterly dividends for 90 years and is set to increase its dividend for the ninth consecutive year in 2016. Regulated utility companies such as Duke can provide safe retirement income with less risk than other types of businesses because of their predictable earnings, government-supported competitive advantages, and relatively low stock price volatility. For these reasons and more, we own several utility stocks in our Conservative Retirees and Top 20 Dividend Stocks portfolios. However, just because a stock appears to have little fundamental risk does not mean it is a safe investment. The price paid for a stock is still very important, and that is especially true for low-growth utility stocks. While utility companies can be relatively attractive income investments compared to bonds due to their potential for capital appreciation and moderate income growth, it’s still important to diversify a portfolio’s income streams in other sectors. Unexpected shocks can still happen across entire sectors, and no one living off dividends desires to deal with unpleasant, avoidable surprises when it comes to their nest egg. Let’s take a closer look at Duke Energy’s business to see if it’s a stock we should consider for our utilities exposure. Business Overview Duke Energy’s history dates back to the early 1900s, and the company is largest electric utility in the country today with over $23 billion in annual revenue and operations reaching across the Southeast and Midwest regions. Duke Energy is a regulated utility company that serves approximately 7.4 million electric customers and 1.5 million gas customers, including customers from its planned $4.9 billion acquisition of Piedmont Natural Gas (more on this later). Regulated utilities account for about 90% of Duke Energy’s business mix, but the company also has a commercial portfolio of renewables and gas infrastructure (5%) and an international energy business in Central and South America (5%), which it recently put up for sale. The company’s regulated utilities primarily rely on coal (29%), nuclear (27%), and natural gas (23%) for its generation of electricity. Hydro and solar generate another 1% of the company’s total energy, and Duke Energy also purchases about 20% of its power. Click to enlarge Source: Duke Energy Investor Presentation Business Analysis Regulated utility companies are essentially monopolies in the regions they operate in. With the exception of Ohio, all of Duke’s electric utilities operate as sole suppliers within their service territories. Building and operating the power plants, transmission lines, and distribution networks to supply customers with power costs billions of dollars, and it would generally be unprofitable and inefficient to have more than one supplier for a region. State utility commissions also have varying degrees of power over the construction of generating facilities, which further restricts competition. The downside to the “monopoly” enjoyed by regulated utilities is that their services are priced by state commissions. This is done to keep prices fair for consumers and allow utility companies to earn a reasonable, but not excessive, return on their investments to encourage them to provide safe and reliable service. A utility company’s attractiveness is largely driven by the states it operates in. Some have more favorable demographics (e.g. population growth) and regulatory bodies. Duke Energy’s mix is generally favorable. Over the past three years, base rate cases approved to Duke Energy have granted the company a return on equity ranging from 9.8% to 10.5% across the Carolinas, Ohio, and Florida. We think these returns are very reasonable and suggest a generally favorable set of regulatory bodies in Duke’s core operating states. In addition to the industry’s promotion of stability, Duke’s business has undergone a rather significant transformation over the last five years to improve the reliability of its earnings and cash flows. Duke Energy’s biggest move was its acquisition of Progress Energy in mid-2012 for over $13 billion, significantly enhancing the company’s scale and market share in regions such as the Carolinas. Duke Energy has realized over $500 million in cost synergies from the deal and become a more efficient energy provider. The company next entered the regulated pipeline business in 2014 to help its efforts to replace coal power plants with cleaner and cheaper natural gas generation facilities. In October 2015, Duke Energy announced a deal to acquire Piedmont Natural Gas for $4.9 billion to boost its push into gas. Piedmont is a regulated gas distribution company that delivers natural gas to customers in the Carolinas and Tennessee. The company owns valuable gas infrastructure that currently supports Duke’s gas-fired generation in the Carolinas and will be further expanded to help with Duke’s ongoing conversion from coal to gas. Regulated gas companies also offer strong and predictable returns on capital (Piedmont’s return on equity is about 10%) and should continue to benefit as a result of the natural gas surplus in the U.S. Compared to electricity sales, which seem likely to slow as energy usage becomes increasingly efficient, gas has a stronger growth profile (Piedmont has investment pipeline growth of 9%). This is because new pipelines coming on-line will allow gas to replace dirtier power sources such as coal in regions where gas was previously inaccessible. Piedmont will about triple Duke’s number of natural gas customers to approximately 1.5 million and help establish a platform for future growth in gas infrastructure projects. After the deal closes, Duke Energy expects roughly 90% of its assets to earn regulated returns, which should provide very reliable earnings. Duke Energy has also gotten rid of non-strategic assets to lower its risk profile and improve the quality of its earnings. Management sold the company’s merchant Midwest commercial generation business to Dynergy for $2.9 billion in early 2015 and placed its struggling Latin American generation business up for sale in February 2016. Each of these businesses had less predictable earnings and greater macro risk. Duke Energy believes its current business mix is now 100% focused on its core operations, whereas 25% of the company’s 2011 net income was derived from non-core businesses. Management now expects to spend $8 billion on new generation investments, $10 billion on gas & electric infrastructure, and $2 billion on commercial & regulated renewables to drive 4-6% annualized earnings growth over the next five years. Overall, we believe Duke Energy has a strong moat. The company has excellent scale as the largest electric utility in the country and operates primarily in regions with generally favorable demographic trends and regulatory frameworks. Management has simplified Duke’s mix to focus on core regulated businesses that provide reliable earnings and new growth opportunities in natural gas and renewable generation resources. While the utility sector is gradually evolving, we believe Duke Energy is here to stay for a long time to come. Duke Energy’s Key Risks Uncontrollable macro factors such as mild temperatures and industrial activity can impact Duke Energy’s near-term financial results. However, we believe these are transitory issues that have little bearing on the company’s long-term earnings potential. The bigger risks worth monitoring are changes in state regulations, population growth trends in key states, increased environmental regulations, and execution of the company’s business strategy (e.g. large projects and acquisitions). The rates Duke Energy can charge its customers are decided at the state level. Similar to what we observed when we analyzed Southern Company (NYSE: SO ), another regulated utility, most of the regions Duke Energy operates in have generally favorable regulatory environments and are characterized by positive population and economic growth. However, the company is banking on these conditions remaining stable as it continues investing for growth and depending on states to approve rate increases to earn a fair return on its capital-intensive investments. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) also creates risk for utility companies in the form of enhanced safety and emissions standards. Duke is still dealing with its notorious coal ash spill that took place in North Carolina in 2014, and the company is gradually shifting its mix of power away from coal in favor of cleaner sources such as natural gas. Finally, over the very long term, electric utility companies will need to deal with the reality that demand is gradually decaying thanks to increasing energy efficiency and distributed generation (e.g. rooftop solar). Duke has earmarked about $2 billion for growth investments on commercial and regulated renewables over the next five years, but it’s still a relatively small proportion of the overall business. The company’s acquisition of Piedmont should also help the company with growth initiatives outside of regulated electric utility services. Dividend Analysis: Duke Energy We analyze 25+ years of dividend data and 10+ years of fundamental data to understand the safety and growth prospects of a dividend. Dividend Safety Score Our Safety Score answers the question, “Is the current dividend payment safe?” We look at factors such as current and historical EPS and FCF payout ratios, debt levels, free cash flow generation, industry cyclicality, ROIC trends, and more. Scores of 50 are average, 75 or higher is very good, and 25 or lower is considered weak. Duke Energy’s Dividend Safety Score of 80 indicates that the company has a very safe dividend payment. Duke’s dividend has consumed 81% of its diluted earnings per share over the last 12 months. A payout ratio this high is usually cause for some concern because it provides less wiggle room in the event of an unexpected drop in profit. However, regulated utility companies are able to safely maintain higher payout ratios because their earnings are (generally) extremely steady, making utilities one of the best stock sectors for dividend income . Using management’s “adjusted” earnings, Duke Energy’s payout ratio is closer to the company’s target range of 65%-70%. As seen below, Duke’s payout ratio has been above 60% each of its last 10 fiscal years. Source: Simply Safe Dividends Not surprisingly, utility companies hold up relatively well during economic recessions. As seen below, Duke Energy’s revenue edged down by just 4% in 2009. While customers use somewhat less electricity during periods of weak growth, they still need it to live. DUK’s stock also fared well in 2008 and outperformed the S&P 500 by 15%. Source: Simply Safe Dividends As we mentioned earlier, regulated utility companies earn very stable earnings. As a state-regulated monopoly company selling non-discretionary services, it’s no surprise to see Duke Energy’s consistent results below. Source: Simply Safe Dividends Duke Energy’s earnings are steady, but regulators control the rates the company can charge customers to ensure pricing is fair. As a result, the returns Duke can earn on its capital projects are capped, and the company’s return on invested capital has remained in the low- to mid-single digits over the last decade. Source: Simply Safe Dividends The capital-intensive nature of utility companies makes them heavily dependent on debt to run and grow their businesses. As seen below, Duke has less than $1 billion in cash on its balance sheet compared to nearly $40 billion of debt. However, the company’s excellent business stability has enabled Duke Energy to maintain an A- credit rating with Standard & Poor’s . While the company’s free cash flow will remain restricted the next few years to fund its major growth investments, forcing it to lean even more on debt markets, we still view Duke as a healthy business as well. Click to enlarge Source: Simply Safe Dividends Overall, the stability of Duke Energy’s earnings and non-discretionary nature of its services significantly boosts the safety of its dividend payment despite its levered balance sheet and relatively high payout ratio. Dividend Growth Score Our Growth Score answers the question, “How fast is the dividend likely to grow?” It considers many of the same fundamental factors as the Safety Score but places more weight on growth-centric metrics like sales and earnings growth and payout ratios. Scores of 50 are average, 75 or higher is very good, and 25 or lower is considered weak. While regulations generally protect utility company’s earnings and market share, they also limit growth opportunities. As a result, most utility businesses have below-average dividend growth rates, and Duke Energy is no exception. The company’s Dividend Growth Score is 20, which suggests that its dividend growth potential is lower than 80% of all other dividend-paying stocks in the market. However, its dividend has been reliable. Duke Energy has made quarterly dividend payments since the 1920s and will raise its dividend for its ninth consecutive year in 2016, keeping it a far distance from joining the dividend aristocrats list but rewarding shareholders nicely. For most of the last 10 years, Duke Energy grew its dividend by an annualized rate of about 2%. However, management expects to double the dividend’s growth rate to 4% per year to better reflect an improvement in Duke’s lower risk business mix and core earnings growth rate of 4%-6% per year. Source: Duke Energy Investor Presentation Higher dividend growth will cause Duke Energy’s earnings payout ratio to increase from its 65%-70% target to closer to 75% in the near term as its growth investments continue, but the payout ratio is expected to turn down over time. Valuation DUK’s stock trades at 16.8x forward earnings estimates and has a dividend yield of 4.2%, which is slightly below its five-year average dividend yield of 4.4%. Since 2009, the company has met its long-term annual adjusted diluted earnings per share growth objective of 4%-6%. Assuming Duke Energy’s growth projects continue helping its core businesses realize 5% annual earnings growth over the coming years, the stock’s total return potential appears to be about 9% per year. Considering the stability of Duke Energy’s earnings, which are largely composed of regulated utility operations, we think the stock is reasonably valued today but not a bargain. Conclusion For investors seeking exposure to utility stocks and safe dividend income, Duke Energy appears to be a reasonably-priced blue chip dividend stock to consider. Almost all of the company’s business mix consists of regulated operations, which provide predictable earnings with low volatility. Most of the regions Duke Energy plays in are also characterized by favorable demographics and historically supportive regulatory bodies. While there is some long-term risk resulting from lower electricity usage trends, the rise of clean renewables, and the company’s major growth investments, we think Duke Energy will remain an appealing income investment for many years to come. Disclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Southern Company: A Safe High-Yield Dividend Stock For Retirees

Yield-starved investors should familiarize themselves with Southern Company (NYSE: SO ), a highly dependable business that has paid dividends every quarter for more than 65 consecutive years. With a high yield of 4.4%, low stock price volatility, and a track record for outperforming the S&P 500 Index over the last 30 years, Southern Company is the type of business that we like to review for our Conservative Retirees and Top 20 Dividend Stocks portfolios. Business Overview The Southern Company is a major producer of electricity in the U.S. that has been in business for more than 100 years. The holding company’s four retail regulated utilities serve approximately 4.5 million customers across Georgia, Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi. Approximately 90% of Southern Company’s earnings are from regulated subsidiaries, and the company also has a small wholesale energy company. Industrial customers account for 28% of the company’s sales, followed by commercial (27%), residential (27%), and other retail and wholesale (17%). By power source, coal generated 33% of Southern Company’s total megawatt hours in 2015, gas accounted for 47%, nuclear was 16%, and hydro power was 3%. The company’s mix of business and geographies will significantly change in the second half of 2016 when it closes its acquisition of natural gas utility AGL Resources. Southern Company’s customer count will double to roughly 9 million, and its energy mix will shift from 100% electric to a 50/50 mix of electric and gas. Business Analysis Utility companies spend billions of dollars to build power plants and transmission lines and must comply with strict regulatory and environmental standards. As capital-intensive regulated entities, utility companies typically have a monopoly in the geographies they operate in. As a result, the government controls the rates that utilities can charge to ensure they are fair to customers while still allowing the utility company to earn a reasonable return on their investments to continue providing quality service. Each state’s regulatory body is different from the next, and some regions have been better to utilities than others. The Southeast region has been friendly to businesses, and Southern Company operates in four of the top eight most constructive state regulatory environments in the U.S. according to RRA: Click to enlarge Source: Southern Company Investor Presentation Southern also maintains strong relationships with regulators in part due to its reputation and the reasonable rates it currently charges, which are below the national average and perceived as being more customer-friendly. The South region is also one of the fastest-growing in the country, which makes Southern Company a relatively more attractive utility than many others. While regulation protects Southern Company’s monopoly business and helps it generate consistent earnings, it also makes growth more difficult. The company’s earnings have grown by about 3% per year historically, but its planned merger with AGL Resources is expected to boost earnings growth to a 4-5% annual clip. In late 2015, Southern Company announced plans to acquire AGL Resources for approximately $8 billion. AGL is the largest U.S. gas-only local distribution company, serving about 4.5 million customers in seven states and generating approximately 70% of its earnings from regulated operations. The combined company will now serve roughly 9 million customers and diversify Southern Company’s revenue mix from being 100% electric to a 50/50 mix of electric and gas customers. The deal also somewhat reduces the impact from the company’s large construction projects that have been delayed and provides a new array of growth projects to invest in. Furthermore, we like that AGL will provide some regulatory diversification for Southern Company by expanding its reach into several new states. Finally, it’s worth mentioning that Southern Company is the only electric utility in the country that is committed to a portfolio of nuclear, coal gasification, natural gas, solar, wind, and biomass. The company has committed $20 billion to developing a portfolio of low- and zero-carbon emission generating resources, including investments in natural gas, solar, wind, and integrated gasification combined cycle technology. As seen below, the company’s mix of resources is expected to become more diversified over the next five years, reducing its dependency on coal. A diverse generation fleet reduces the company’s risk of being overly dependent on any one source of energy. Click to enlarge Source: Southern Company Investor Presentation Southern Company’s Key Risks Utility companies generally have lower business risk than many other types of businesses. Their biggest risks are usually regulatory in nature – customer rates are decided at the state level and materially impact the return a utility company gets on its major capital expenditures. In Southern Company’s case, its main states in the Southeast have historically had generally favorable regulatory rulings. The acquisition of AGL Resources will also diversify the company’s regulatory risk. EPA regulations are another challenge. There is increased scrutiny around coal and nuclear power, which could result in higher spending to remain compliant with safety and emissions standards. If Southern Company cannot pass these costs through to customers, shareholders would take the hit. Project execution is another big risk facing the company. Southern Company has taken on several major capital projects in recent years. The company is building a coal-fired power plant in Kemper County, Mississippi, and two nuclear plants at Plant Vogtle in Georgia. The coal gasification project in Mississippi was originally expected to cost $5 billion and go into service in 2014, but it has been delayed by two years and experienced over $1 billion in additional costs. While the Kemper County facility is finally nearing completion, it’s uncertain how the project will be paid for. A Wall Street Journal article from May 22, 2015, cited that Southern informed state regulators that it might need to raise electricity rates by as much as 41% a month for households to pay for the project. The company was ultimately bailed out by an approved 18% rate increase in August 2015, although the increase was temporary and later revised to 15% . Southern Company is only about 26% finished with construction of its nuclear plants in Georgia. This project has seen its costs escalate from an estimated $14.1 billion in 2009 to over $20 billion today (Southern’s share of the project’s cost is less than $10 billion). It has also been delayed by more than three years. While the cost overruns and delays on these massive projects are certainly a black eye for the company and do not help its regulatory relationships in the effected states, we do not believe they impair Southern’s long-term earnings power. However, there is risk that these projects receive unfavorable rate treatment with regulators. Finally, Southern Company’s acquisition of AGL Resources creates some risk. This was a large deal that comes at a time when the management team is already facing challenges with the company’s large capital projects. AGL gets Southern into a new business (gas utility) and brings exposure to new states that have different regulatory bodies. Dividend Analysis: Southern Company We analyze 25+ years of dividend data and 10+ years of fundamental data to understand the safety and growth prospects of a dividend. Dividend Safety Score Our Safety Score answers the question, “Is the current dividend payment safe?” We look at factors such as current and historical EPS and FCF payout ratios, debt levels, free cash flow generation, industry cyclicality, ROIC trends, and more. Scores of 50 are average, 75 or higher is very good, and 25 or lower is considered weak. Southern Company’s dividend payment appears very safe with a Dividend Safety Score of 86. If we exclude charges related to increased cost estimates for the company’s large construction projects, Southern’s earnings payout ratio in 2015 was 75%. While we prefer to see a lower payout ratio for most businesses, we can see that Southern Company’s payout ratio has remained between 70% and 80% for most of the last decade. Source: Simply Safe Dividends Utility companies can also maintain relatively high payout ratios compared to most businesses because their financial results are so stable. Customers still need to use a certain amount of electricity and gas regardless of economic conditions, making utilities one of the best stock sectors for dividend income . As seen below, Southern Company’s sales only fell by 8% in fiscal year 2009, and its stock was flat in 2008, outperforming the S&P 500 by 37%. Utility companies are generally great investments to own during economic downturns. Source: Simply Safe Dividends We can also see that Southern Company’s reported earnings have remained remarkably stable over the last decade. The dip in recent years was caused by constructed-related charges. Otherwise, the steady earnings results look almost like interest payments coming in from a bond. Southern’s earnings growth isn’t exciting, but it’s dependable. Source: Simply Safe Dividends As a regulated utility company, Southern generates a moderate but predictable mid-single digit return on invested capital. The slight dip was due to write-offs on its capital projects, but the favorable regulatory environment in its key states has helped it earn somewhat higher returns than many other utility companies. We expect the company’s returns to improve as its large projects finally come on-line. Source: Simply Safe Dividends Utility companies maintain a lot of debt to maintain their capital-intensive businesses. Southern Company most recently reported $1.4 billion in cash compared to $27.4 billion in debt on its balance sheet. While this would be a concern for most companies, the stability of Southern’s earnings and strength of its moat alleviate much of this risk. The company also has over $4 billion available in its credit facility and maintains investment grade credit ratings with the major agencies. Click to enlarge Source: Simply Safe Dividends Despite the challenges Southern Company is facing with its major construction projects, the safety of its dividend still looks great. The company maintains a reasonable payout ratio for a utility company, earnings are predictable each year, and its key operating states have provided a historically favorable regulatory environment. Dividend Growth Score Our Growth Score answers the question, “How fast is the dividend likely to grow?” It considers many of the same fundamental factors as the Safety Score but places more weight on growth-centric metrics like sales and earnings growth and payout ratios. Scores of 50 are average, 75 or higher is very good, and 25 or lower is considered weak. The dependability of utility companies’ dividends comes at the price of growth. Southern Company’s dividend has grown at a 3.9% annualized rate over the past decade, and the business has a very low Dividend Growth Score of 9. The company most recently increased its dividend by about 2% in April 2015, marking its 14th consecutive raise. Source: Simply Safe Dividends While Southern Company is 11 years away from joining the dividend aristocrats list , we believe it has a good chance of getting there. The company’s dividend growth rate could even increase in coming years. Management believes the AGL Resources merger could increase Southern’s long-term earnings per share growth from 3% to 4-5%, which would allow for slightly greater dividend raises. Valuation SO’s stock trades at 17.4x forward earnings estimates and has a dividend yield of 4.36%, which is below its five-year average dividend yield of 4.46%. If the AGL merger increases the company’s long-term earnings growth rate to 4-5% as management expects, the stock appears to offer total return potential of 8-9% per year. We think the stock looks to be about fairly valued today, and it’s worth noting how the predictability of Southern’s business has resulted in very low stock price volatility. The chart below shows the volatility of each of the 20 utilities in the Philadelphia Electric Utility Index (UTY). Southern Company had the lowest level of volatility through the five-year period ending on 12/31/2014. Source: Southern Company Annual Report Conclusion Southern Company is a blue chip dividend payer in the utilities sector. The last few years have been disappointing due to delays and cost overruns with some of the company’s major construction projects, but the long-term outlook appears to be intact. Southern Company’s stock appears to be reasonably priced and offers a dependable income stream for those living off dividends in retirement. It’s hard not to like a business as sturdy and reliable as this one. Disclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

AES Tiete’s (AESYY) CEO Britaldo Soares on Q4 2015 Results – Earnings Call Transcript

AES Tiete S.A. ADR ( OTCPK:AESYY ) Q4 2015 Earnings Conference Call February 24, 2016 9:00 AM ET Operator Good morning, ladies and gentlemen and welcome to AES Tiete Energia S.A. conference call that is operated by Chorus Call Brasil. In this conference call we will talk about the earnings results of 2015 of the Company. The IR area of AES Tiete Energia also informs you that the release of these earnings result is already available on our site, ri.aestiete.com.br. All participants are connected on a listen-only mode and subsequently, we will have a Q&A session where we will give you further instructions to participate. [Operator Instructions] and we would like to remind you that this conference call is being recorded and is also being transmitted through webcast through the site ri.aestiete.com.br. On behalf of AES Tiete Energia, we would like to clarify that forward-looking statements made during this conference call regarding business prospects, projections and operating targets and financial targets of the Company are forecasts based on current expectations. These expectations may change due to variables like market conditions, economic performance of the country and economic performance of international markets. The presentation will be followed by the slides that you may visualize through the webcast and they will be carried out by our CEO, Mr. Britaldo Soares and the Vice CEO of Investor Relations, Mr. Francisco Morandi. At the end, our officers will be at your disposal to answer any further questions. Now, I would like to give the floor to Mr. Britaldo Soares. Please Mr. Britaldo Soares, you have the floor. Britaldo Soares Good morning to all, we are now going to begin the presentation of the results of AES Tiete for 2015. I’m going to give you a summary of some highlights of 2015 and then I’ll turn the floor over to Francisco Morandi who’s going to give you more details. Today with us are Julian Nebreda, which according to the material fact, last week, will be appointed the new CEO of the AES Brazil Group and also our VP for Operations in Generation, Mr. Italo Carvalho Freitas, and as you all know, Italo Freitas will be the new CEO of AES Tiete Energia as of April 1, 2016. Also with us is VP of Institutional Relations, Mr. Paulo Camillo, the VP for Legal and Compliance, Mr. Pedro Bueno and the VP of Generation Business, Mr. Ricardo Cyrino and with the Investor Relations team. Moving on to Slide 2, we will begin with hydrology, and I would like to highlight the improvement in the affluence in the period. The average affluence in the southeast, mid-west regions in the end of 2015 was 85% of the long term average. That is 15 percentage points above the 70% of 2014. Average affluence in the quarter was above the historical average and at the end of Q4 2015 was 105% of the long term average relative to 74% in Q4 2014. It was therefore possible to see higher levels in the reservoirs in the system as compared with the previous periods, and at the end of 2015, the level was 29% relative to 22% at the end of 2014. The reservoir levels of our power plants also had an increase by 30 percentage points and at the end of 2015 were at 65% relative to 35% in December 2014. This recovery in the levels of the reservoirs have also to do with the lower consumption by 2% when we compare 2014 to 2015. The lowering at the end of the quarter was a 7.1% as compared with 12.2% in Q4 2014. As regard to the year of 2015, the lowering was 15.8% as compared with 9.3% in 2014. This lowering of the MRE in 2015 is in line with the Company’s guidance and had an impact of R$593 million on the Company’s bottom line. This will be talked about by Francisco. As regard to the commercialization strategy, in this quarter, we sold 140 megawatt average for three years at an average price of R$152 per megawatt hour for delivery as of 2016. We currently have contracted 95% of our available energy for 2016 and 88% for 2017. I would also like to highlight the completion of the Company restructuring of AES Tiete in December 2015. AES Tiete has been incorporated by its previous controller, Companhia Brasiliana de Energia and was then called AES Energia S.A. Brasiliana de Energia had an investment, had a stake in AES Eletropaulo, Uruguaiana, Elpa and Servicos, and all of these stakes were transferred to a new holding of the Group, which is called Brasiliana Participacoes. The main objectives of thee corporate restructuring were to strengthen AES Tiete as the platform for growth of AES in Generation in Brazil, to improve corporate governance by migrating AES Tiete to level 2 of BM&FBovespa to consolidate liquidity by means of negotiating a single instrument, the unit and the negotiation started as of January 4th and units are composed by 1 common share and 4 preferential shares, and then also it simplifies the shareholders’ agreement between AES and BM&FBovespa thus making the decision-making process of AES Tiete faster. Moving on to Slide 3, we consider this restructuring and to allow for comparisons, we will present to you the financial results of AES Tiete before the merger and the results of the continued operations of AES Tiete Energia S.A., excluding the results of those companies, which were transferred to Brasiliana Participacoes. Let’s begin with AES Tiete S.A. before the merger. We saw that the net revenue for the year was R$2.3 billion in 2015, 18% lower than the revenue of 2014 and this has to do with the lower volume and price of energy sold in the spot market. The costs and OpEx excluding depreciation amounted to R$1.2 billion in the year, a 46% drop relative to 2014. They were impacted by the reduction of the Company’s exposure to the spot market, which also reflects a lower volume and price of the spot in the period. Therefore, it went from R$688 per megawatt hour to R$287.20 per megawatt hour in 2015. Manageable PMSO in 2015 was R$197 million, an 8% reduction in actual terms as compared with 2014. This was a better performance relative to the zero projection that we had in the beginning of 2015. The cost reduction in actual terms has to do with our initiatives to improve efficiency, manage assets and realize costs in the last few years. EBITDA amounted to R$1.4 billion this year relative to R$918 million in 2014. In view of the reduction of costs and OpEx and consequently the net income increased to R$726 million, relative to R$449 million in 2014. Analysing the EBITDA of the continued operations of AES Tiete Energia we can see that EBITDA was R$1.3 billion in 2015, relative to R$914 million in 2014. This has to do with the positive effect of the reduction of costs with energy bought from AES Tiete. The net income for the year was R$739 million in 2015 relative to R$413 million in 2014, a 79% increase in view of the lower cost of energy bought and the tax credit for R$43.7 million arising from the corporate restructuring. As regard to the payout of dividend AES Tiete Energia’s management has proposed a payout of complementary dividends of R$463.8 million relative to Q4 2015, totalling R$721 million for the year 2015, with a payout of 99.3% in the year. As regard to relevant recognitions, the Company continued in the Corporate Sustainability Index of Bovespa for the 9th consecutive year. In 2014, we were awarded the Eloy Chaves Golden Award which recognizes safety standards. I’m now going to turn the floor over to Francisco Morandi to continue the presentation. Francisco Morandi Thank you, Britaldo. Good morning to all. Moving on to Slide 4, you see the levels of the reservoirs and the thermal dispatch. As you can see on the graph on the left-hand side, there was an improvement in the level of reservoirs which started and these levels were 22% in December 2014 and are now 29% of the useful volume in December 2015. As said before, the recovery of the reservoir levels of the national integrated system has to do with the better affluence and this, in Q4, it was 116% above the historical average in the long term, relative to 80% in Q4 2014. There was also a lower load in the year, and the reduction was by 2%. On the right-hand side of slide, you see the evolution of the reservoirs as compared with the volume of thermal dispatch in the last few years. You see that thermal dispatch is still high but begins to be reduced. In the quarter, thermal dispatch was 14.7 gigawatt average, relative to 17.4 gigawatt average in Q4 2014. On Slide 5, we present a comparison between the thermal dispatch in the merit and outside the merit order since January 2012 and the trends of the spot price. As you can see on the graph, as of May 2015, you can see a relevant increase in the dispatch out of merit order, which can be seen in grey in the graph and this explains the low amounts of the spot price, especially in the southeast and mid-west. The thermal dispatch in January 2016 is at 12 gigawatt month, gigawatt average, only 4 gigawatt hour in the merit and the rest out of the merit order. The spot pricing generally was R$31 per megawatt hour. We believe that the reason for this high dispatch in this period has to do with the conservative attitude of CMSE to ensure better levels in the reservoirs to face the dry periods in April. However, the position adopted by CMSE to maintain thermal generation in high levels, using dispatch out of the merit order allows for a gap between the formation of prices of energy and the actual operation of the system. This additional cost of dispatch out of the merit order is borne by consumers through the ESS, a charge on the system and makes — skews the formation of prices in the market. This is a point that should be reviewed. Moving on to Slide 6, we show the main information relating to the level of the reservoirs and the energy generated. The affluence seen in the regions, southeast and mid-west where our dams are, closed the fourth quarter of 2015 at the 105% under the historical average. That is above the 74% of Q4 2014. As a consequence, more energy was generated quarter on quarter at the expense of 138%. As you can see on the slide, the volume of the energy generated increased in terms of — in yearly terms and in quarterly terms. In Q4 2015, it was 1,169 megawatt average, the equivalent to 104% of our assured energy relative to 848 megawatt average in Q4 2014. On the right-hand side, we present the trend of the levels of reservoirs which at the end of 2015, had 65% of equivalent energy relative to 35% in the fourth quarter of 2014. Yesterday, just so you know, our reservoirs were at 94.5%. On Slide 7, you see the lowering in the MRE for 2014 and ’15. The lowering in Q4 2015 was 7.1%, that is, 5.1 percentage points lower than what we saw in Q4 2014, which was 12.2%. This is due to the recovery of affluences in the period and this affluence was 116% above the historical average in Q4 2015, relative to 80% in Q4 2014. When we look at the lowering at an annual basis, you can see an increase by 6.5 percentage points. In the year 2015, lowering was 15.8% relative to 9.3% in 2014. This can be explained by the negative hydrology in the first half of 2015, by the maintenance of thermal dispatch and by the lower load. As said before, the GSF and its impact in the Company are in line with the projections. Therefore, there was a negative impact on the Company’s EBITDA for R$593 million in 2015, which is lower than the impact seen in 2014, which was R$816 million, however, a very challenging impact for our business. When we talk about the cash position of the Company, I am going to talk more about it, but since the July 1, 2015, APINE obtained an injunction for all hydro generators like our Company, which prevents the impact of the GSF to be allocated to those generators who have this injunction. Considering that we did not adhere to the proposal of accepting the GSF, we are still covered by this injunction. As regard to our forecast for the GSF impact in 2016, it will not be significant for our result, given our contracted position for 2016 and the low prices of the spot market expected for the year, bearing in mind the current hydrological scenario. On Slide 8, we present the result for the billed energy and the net revenue. The billed energy as reduced by 6% in Q4 2015, relative to Q4 2014 because of the lack of energy sold in the short term and the reduction of volume of energy sold under the contract with Eletropaulo. In a yearly comparison, there was a reduction by 4% in the billed energy, and this was because of the drop in billed energy in the spot market. The net revenue therefore in Q4 of 2015 was reduced by 28% as a result of the lower volume of energy billed in the spot market and a lower price in the comparison between the periods. On a yearly basis, the drop was by 18%, because of the reduction of the energy sold in the spot market, which was partially offset by the greater net revenue coming from the higher price of energy sold to AES Eletropaulo. Net revenue in Q4 2015 went to R$637 million and in 2015, was R$2.6 million. In the upcoming Slide 9, we talk about the cost of 2015 compared to the ones in 2014, the light blue part shows the impact of the price reduction in the spot market and a consequent lower cost purchasing energy due to the reduction of the spot price of the period. It is possible to absorb a reduction of 46% in the cost on a yearly comparison. Now, regarding manageable cost, there was an increase of 2% in the quarter, mainly due to the increase of the line of personnel readjusted to salary of 8% registered in July on a higher headcount in the quarterly comparison. Now, if we assess the real growth, there was a drop of 7.6% in the yearly comparison performance above the guidance that previously was announced by the Company that forecast zero growth in real terms. When we see slide 10, we can see that the EBITDA registered in the fourth quarter totalled R$404 million, vis-a-vis a negative EBITDA, up R$37 million on the fourth quarter of 2014. Throughout the year, the EBITDA was R$1.402 billion presenting an increase of 53% when compared to the year 2014. Our net income was R$233 million this quarter, compared to a loss of R$76 million during the fourth quarter of the past year. At the year, net profits were R$726 million, 62% above what was registered in 2014. The main factors that explain the performance of the quarter are lowering of the period seasonality of physical guarantee and a drop of the volume of energy delivered to Eletropaulo in the period regarding dividend payout. As mentioned, the Company’s management approved a payout of R$463.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2015 and added to the value distributed in 2015, totalled R$721.1 million throughout the year with a payout of 99%. This distribution will be deliberated in the general meeting of the Company that will take place on April 30 this year. It is important to highlight that this payout of dividend was calculated that on registered income by AES Tiete Energia, excluding from this calculation, the spun-off assets of the operations of AES Eletropaulo, AES Elpa, AES Uruguaiana and AES Servicos. For comparison, if we consider the same criteria to determine the value that would be paid out via the result of AES Tiete before the incorporation, our total dividend would be in the range of R$432.1 million, the value would be R$31.7 million, would be the proposed payout and it has been submitted to be approved in the general meeting. On the upcoming slide, Slide 11, we will talk about the investments. The investments of the fourth quarter of 2015 totalled R$62 million. This is an increase of 44% vis-a-vis, the R$4 million invested during the fourth quarter of 2014. Most of these investments were destined to modernize and preventive maintenance of the plants. We would like to highlight our Vermelha, Barra Bonita, Bariri and Ibitinga plant. In addition to around R$9 million that were for projects of IT to optimize the internal operational processes. Throughout the year investments totalled R$168 million, 10% above the investments of 2014 and above the announced projection due to the increase of interest rate capitalized in the period. The investments of these were for preventive maintenance and modernization of our plants and to maintain its operating conditions and to assure the availability of power generation with productivity gains, efficiency and greater generation of revenue in the upcoming years. In our next slide, Slide 12, we observe that operating cash generation of the quarter was R$409 million affected by the drop of the average spot price between periods and an injunction obtained by APINE that is of June 1, 2015 that prevents hydroelectric displacement be allocated to the generators that hold this injunction of the settlement. Through the year, we see an operating cash generation of R$1.25 billion vis-a-vis operating cash generation of R$1.19 billion in the year of 2014. Due to the matters that have been approached previously, the free cash of fourth quarter of 2015 was positive in R$317 million vis-a-vis to positive R$179 million of the same period last year. This performance is due to an increase of R$574 million in operating cash generation. This is a result of a lower impact of GSF, lower volume of spot price in 2015 and an injunction which prevents the GSF to allocate the holders of the generators obtained, now the issuance of a promissory note in December of 2014 of R$500 million and an increase of net financial expenses in a quarterly comparison which results in an increase in interest rates in the period. So, the final balance of our cash in the fourth quarter of 2015 was R$739.6 million compared to the R$501.4 million of the fourth quarter of 2014. Now, regarding the position of 2015, the free cash was R$496 million, totalling R$441 million lower than what was registered in 2015. Now, this performance is due mainly to the settlement of the first issuance of debenture and the second issuance of promissory notes, issued in December — amortized in December 2015, partially offset by the fourth issuance of debentures and lower expense of income tax, R$262.4 million due to a lower result between the compared period. As a result, the cash balance totalled R$739.6 million in 2015, when compared to the R$501.4 million in 2014. Now, when we talk about indebted net, Slide 13, we can see our level of leveraging that close, fourth quarter of 2015, 6.5 times the net debt to EBITDA reflection of the lowering of the [indiscernible] of the APINE injunction and the reduction of gross indebtedness of the Company, our net debt closed the quarter at R$644 million versus R$1.1 billion in the fourth quarter of 2014 affected by the settlement of the first issuance of debentures on April 1, 2015 with amortization of R$300 million and the settlement of the second issuance of the promissory note on December 17, 2015 with amortization of R$500 million partially offset by the fourth issuance of debentures in the middle of December of 2015. Throughout the timeline of the debt amortization we can absorb a debt of R$161 million that was amortized in 2015. This value is broke out by the maturity of the first series of the fourth issuance of debentures. In 2016, we don’t expect amortization. In 2017, we will amortize R$235 million mainly regarding the amortization of the second series of the fourth issuance. Now, in terms of our evolution of customer portfolio on Slide 14, we can see the evolution focus contracting our own energy as of 2016 considering the termination of the contract with AES Eletropaulo in December of 2015. The level of contracting for 2016 is already at a safe level of approximately 95%. Thus, for 2016, we have decided to maintain a parcel of available energy in order to reduce possible exposure, risks in the short term market due to hydrological risk. For 2017, we have traded 88% of the available energy which guarantees the Company certain flexibility to carry as of 2018. Now, for 2018, we have traded 60% already for 2019, 26% and for 2020 we have traded 12% of available energy as you can see in the chart. Since October, we have traded approximately 140 average megawatts in a period of three years and average prices of R$152 per megawatt hour to be delivered as of 2016. Our expectation is that — in terms of price, will be in the range of R$120 to R$150 per megawatt order to be delivered as of 2018. After this, I would like to give the floor back to Britaldo. Britaldo Soares Thank you, very much Francisco. In a nutshell, the year of 2015 has shown a number of challenges for the electric sector, downturn of energy consumption in the country and the partial recovery of our hydrology, the drop of the average spot price, were strongly affected in the positive variation of the net income and the drop of operating expenses and cost. When we compare 2015 and 2014, the impact of GSF dropped from R$816 million in 2014 to R$593 million in 2015. Now, regarding energy contracting and following the strategy that we defined, well, we have created a portfolio of contracts that is very consistent, that positions us positively for the upcoming year, being able to do our contracting in a consequent and an adequate fashion. In addition to this, I would like to talk about our corporate reorganization. We are simplifying the decision process of the Company, more — that is more simplified and we are preparing the Company to grow, that is a trend and to improve our corporate governance and to improve its liquidity. That would be the unit negotiation. Before we go to our Q&A session, I would like to give the floor to Julian Nebreda, that as we communicated through a relevant fact on the past 17th, now he is chairing the AES Group in Brazil and subsequently, Italo de Freitas that is the AES — is the Chair of AES Tiete. Julian Nebreda Thank you, very much Britaldo. It is a great satisfaction that I become CEO of the Group AES Brazil, this is as of April 1st. One of my missions is to drive the growth of AES in the country through business expansion of generation of AES Tiete. It is impossible to see the future without recognizing what this Company is today. I would like to thank now, Britaldo for his excellent work in the past years that he has dedicated and how he has dedicated his time to the companies of AES. I am absolutely sure that he will continue contributing as the Chair of our Board of our Company, but I also — I now would like to give the floor back to Britaldo. Britaldo Soares Thank you, very much Julian, and now I will ask Italo to please. I give him the floor. Italo Carvalho Freitas Good morning to everyone. I would like to thank everybody for participating in this conference call. I would like to take advantage to tell you that I will be focussed on the operational excellence and looking for the growth of this Company. It is important to recognize the achievements of Britaldo throughout the time. He was a CEO when we were just started, great evolution. He is part of the — for nine consecutive years of sustainable — it was the first generator in America to be certified in asset management. A result of a consistent effort developed in order to guarantee our operational excellence. Britaldo also was in the forefront of the commercial transformation preparing the Company for challenges of the free market. Thank you very much. Britaldo Soares Thank you very much. Now, we will start our Q&A session and now we are at your disposal. Thank you, very much. Question-and-Answer Session Operator [Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Ms. Carneiro from Santander. Carolina Carneiro Good morning to all. I wanted to ask you a question given that you talked about the Company’s future, the restructuring, so what is going to be the strategy for Tiete now, going forward? Are you going to take part in auctions? Are you going to focus more on existing assets? Are you looking at any M&A? What is your focus today relative to the focus that the AES Group would have relative to the type of source you would be looking for going forward? Britaldo Soares Thank you, Carolina. I’m going to ask Ricardo Cyrino to address your question and then I will add anything as I may deem necessary. Ricardo Cyrino Good morning, Carolina. As regards to our growth strategy, it is in place and we are looking for projects underway. We had two thermal projects underway for 500 megawatt in the state of Sao Paulo and we are developing a third thermal project, also in the state of Sao Paulo. We have been developing projects with solar energy. One of them is being prepared to take part in a reserve auction, a project for 150 megawatt in Sao Paulo with an additional 30 megawatt in Minas Gerais and this is close to Agua Vermelha and we are also looking for opportunities developed by third parties, wind, farms in the northeast so we can look at these projects and assess them. So, we assess opportunities in terms of acquisitions, be it for renewable sources like wind or other sources as we may deem important. Britaldo Soares Thank you Cyrino. As Ricardo said, you might have noticed that there is no substantial change in the strategy. We basically continue to focus on thermal as before and this also has to do with our obligation to expand in Sao Paulo and we’re also focusing on renewable sources. We are developing solar projects in the concession areas and also we look for M&A opportunities and we look for wind projects. So, this is the backbone of our strategy. Something else that we have been doing, and this can be for the mid-term is technology to store energy in batteries and the precedent market still has to be developed. We have to work on the regulatory front. First case is being structured now, and as you might know, AES is a leader in the space on this type of technology and we are bringing that into AES Tiete. Carolina Carneiro Thank you very much. Operator The next question comes from Mr. Peretti from JPMorgan. Henrique Peretti I have a question having to do with the long term price. You have megawatt average for three years at R$152 but your expectation is between R$120 and R$150 as of 2015. If the average price is R$152, why don’t you believe that the price could be higher than R$150 in the long term and do you think it is closer to R$120 or R$150? Given that the prices in the short term are very low because of the hydrology, I could maybe assume that in the short term clients could be paying R$100, and then above R$150 in 2018. So, the weighted price would be R$150 for three years. Am I right in my assumptions? Could you give us a little bit more color please? Britaldo Soares Thank you, Henrique. I’m going to ask Ricardo Cyrino to address your question and I will jump in if necessary. Ricardo Cyrino Hello Henrique, good morning. Yes, the range of price is wider now. As of 2018, your comment is right, the short term prices, especially for 2016 are extremely low, in view of the recovery of the reservoirs and the lower demand. So, this combination of better hydrology and lower demand gives us a buffer for 2016 and the prices drop a lot in 2016. The spot price is expected to remain low in 2016 and there will be an addition on top of this price for the next few years, R$60, R$70, these are this week’s figures for 2016. For 2017, prices are expected to be low. R$100, R$110 per megawatt hour and there is a new variable there, the uncertainty relative to the hydrology. Are the reservoirs going to hold these good levels or not? When you go further away in 2018, R$120, R$150 for three year contracts, so this would cover from 2018 to 2020. So, we have this wider range of prices. We don’t know when the economy’s going to recover. If the economy should recover faster, prices will be driver upwards. If the hydrology is good and the economy takes longer to recover, we will work on the lower part of the range, but in five years, the guidance is for a marginal cost of expansion and we are talking about a range above R$150, but we’re focussed on three years. That is why the range is so big. Henrique Peretti Yes, I was thinking that if the short term price, the market price is R$60, R$70 for 2016 and then R$70 or R$100 for 2017 reaching R$150 in 2018, so the weighted average wouldn’t be R$152 for three year contracts. So, for 2018 you might be closing contracts above R$150. As I read it, the prices as of 2018 would be way above R$150 to give us a weighted average at R$152. So, are you being conservative? Ricardo Cyrino Now, I understood the other part of your comment. Yes, you’re right, when we closed these deals that we are reporting on today, it was October, November, December 2015 and the prices in the market were higher and yes, for 2018 the prices were in the range of R$160 per megawatt hour. So, we expected that prices would be higher also in 2016. That was the market condition at that time. We closed contracts at R$152 per megawatt hour. Since, we expected prices to go down shortly in 2016, in the A minus 1, we sold a lot of energy at R$142 per megawatt hour and these are December prices. So, this volume is what we are reporting on today. Then with the increase in the inflow, we saw a decline in short term prices and they influence the price of contracts in the first two years. So, R$152 are contracts that we closed in Q4, with all the uncertainties that there were at that time in terms of the hydrology, the load for the years 2016 and going forward. Henrique Peretti Oh good. I thought you had signed contracts in the first quarter. Thank you so much for the clarification. I had a last question, what is the profile of clients who are signing this type of contract? Ricardo Cyrino The profile of clients is very varied, very diversified. We have large clients, industrial clients, commercial clients. We have some contracts with generators and few contracts with trading commercializing companies. It’s a diversified portfolio. Operator [Operator Instructions] The next question comes from Luciano Costa from Reuters. Luciano Costa Good morning. Thank you all for the call. We had recent news that Duke Energy might sell their assets in Brazil and Tiete is seen by some analysts as a Company that could have synergy and be interested in those assets. Are you looking at these assets? What is your analysis — how do you analyze, how do you assess Duke? Britaldo Soares Luciano, we always look at what is happening in the market and we do that very carefully. What I can say is that this asset has been put in the market many times. So, yes, we see what happens in the market. That’s what I can say now. Operator Since there are no further questions. I would like to turn the floor over to Mr. Soares for his final remarks. Britaldo Soares I would like to thank you all very much for participating for attending our conference call and being so kind to me and I would like to make myself available together with the team to take any other questions you might have about the results of 2015. Thank you very much and have a nice day. Operator AES Tiete’s conference call has now ended. We thank you all for participating. Copyright policy: All transcripts on this site are the copyright of Seeking Alpha. 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