ONE Gas reports results for 2018, fourth quarter
Colder weather, increased costs associated with refund obligations related to the 2017 Tax Cuts and J obs Act and increased capital expenditures factored into results ONE Gas Inc. reported Wednesday for the final quarter of 2018 and the full year.
Tulsa-based ONE Gas is the parent company of Oklahoma Natural Gas. The company reported a net income of $44.7 million in the fourth quarter, or 84 cents a share, based on operating income of $80.8 million and total revenues of $464.4 million.
In the final quarter of 2017, ONE Gas reported a net income of $47.1 million, or 89 cents per share, based upon operating income of $93.8 million and total revenues of $462.4 million.
For the entire year, it earned a net income of $172 million, or $3.25 a share, compared to its 2017 net income of $163 million, or $3.08 a share, based upon operating incomes of $288.4 million and $316.7 million and total revenues of $1.63 billion and $1.54 billion, respectively.
ONE Gas officials said the company' s net margin for the final quarter of 2018 of $246 million, which is total revenues minus costs for natural gas, decreased because of $14.8 million it set aside to pay refunds associated with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to its customers.
That decrease, however, was
offset somewhat by $3.2 million in rate increases approved by regulators in Texas and Kansas and $4.3 million in new revenues generated by higher transportation volumes, residential customer growth in Oklahoma and Texas and colder weather during the period.
ONE Gas reported its fourth-quarter operating costs were $124 million in 2018 compared to $120 million the same period the year before, and that depreciation and amortization expenses and capital expenditures increased slightly, yearover-year for the fourth quarter.
Its tax expense for the fourth quarter of 2018 was $16.5 million, compared to $31.4 million during the same period the previous year.
The company reported its net margin for 2018 was $919 million, compared to $925 million the previous year. Net margin
fell in part because of $42.3 million it obligated to make refund payments
to customers as part of ongoing rate cases, officials said.
They made up part of that, however, through increased revenues of $35.2 million brought in by higher authorized rates in Texas and Kansas and by higher transportation volumes, higher sales volumes because of colder weather, residential customer growth in Oklahoma and Texas and other associated rider, surcharges and tax credits.
The company stated its 2018 operating costs were $471 million in 2018, compared to $ 457 million in 2017 and that its capital expenditures in 2018 were $447 million, including asset removal costs, compared to $409 million in 2017.
“Our 2018 results reflect the ongoing investments in the reliability of our systems to safely deliver natural gas, a key energy source for our more than 2 million customers,” ONE Gas CEO Pierce H. Norton II said in a statement.
“Our strategy enables the company to provide the safe and reliable service our customers expect, while also delivery value for shareholders.”