Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Robert Stefani: Look, Chris, that first point towards — with the sale of Mountain West, obviously, we’re going to have the removal of the interest on the bridge loan, right? So that’s going to be a primary driver I think as Justin alluded to, we’re bringing in a consultant that’s going to look at the overall cost structure just in the context of the utility but also at the holdings level given the go-forward plan with respect to Century, we will continue and obviously, you can appreciate this as we embark on executing on the Century spend, which we’re laser-focused on now, we’re going to incur expenses associated with that. It’s getting a Form 10 together, making the filings, making the public — or the private letter ruling filing and taking the necessary steps to get Century into position to spend in the fourth quarter or first quarter of 2024, we’ll have some transaction expenses at the holdings level.

Operator: Our next question comes from Ryan Levine from Citi. Please go ahead.

Ryan Levine: Hi, everybody. Wanted to start off on Page 31. There is some language here about a dividend policy post the separation of the Centuri. Can you provide some color as to what you’re trying to signal there? Are you suggesting that there may be a change or a reduction in your dividend policy post 2024 and beyond if the deal is executed?

Robert Stefani: Ryan, it’s Rob. Thanks for the question. I think first and foremost, we’re committed to paying a competitive dividend. And I think we’re demonstrating that this year, we’re holding the dividend flat — the — what we do with respect to the dividend pro forma to spin a Centuri, we’re going to evaluate closer to the timing of the spend. I think what we’re signalling here is that we are going to, as always, look to pay a competitive dividend to our peers with respect to payout ratios.

Ryan Levine: Okay. And then in terms of the O&M cost initiatives or consultants being higher over the last few years, that’s going a lot of focus among a lot of key stakeholders. Is there anything new that you’re hoping to bring to light through that consulting study? Or do you see a real opportunity to improve operations?

Justin Brown: Ryan, it’s Justin. Yes. So, we had announced kind of this internal review that we had embarked on in the fall, I think in the third call, and as we’ve gone through that, we’ve identified, I think, some opportunities, but we wanted to bring in someone that had kind of a greater lens with respect to the industry. And so, we’ve done that, and we anticipate working with them the first half of this year to identify different initiatives then we can prioritize and execute on. And so, I think it’s going to be a combination I think there are some things that we have been able to identify, but it’s going to be combined with their expertise to see what additional things we might be able to identify as well. So, I think it’s a combination of the two.

Ryan Levine: Okay. And then last question for me. In terms of the timing of the Centuri spin, it was outlined for this year, first quarter next year, to the extent that financing markets more broadly are harder to forecast how available or attractive they’ll be. Could you see the time line move faster or get delayed if the cost of incremental capital becomes cheaper or less attractive?