Cautionary Statements and Supplemental Information
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain expectations and projections regarding our future performance referenced in this presentation, in other reports or statements we file with the SEC or otherwise release to the public, and on our
website, are forward-looking statements. Senior officers and other employees may also make verbal statements to analysts, investors, regulators, the media and others that are forward-looking.
Forward-looking statements involve matters that are not historical facts, such as statements regarding our future operations, prospects, strategies, financial condition, economic performance (including
growth and earnings), industry conditions and demand for our products and services. Because these statements involve anticipated events or conditions, forward-looking statements often include
words such as "anticipate," "assume," "believe," "can," "could," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "future," "goal," "indicate," "intend," "may," "outlook," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "seek,"
"should," "target," "would," or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements contained in this presentation include, without limitation, statements regarding future earnings per share, dividend growth
and EBIT contribution, our priorities for 2011 and the proposed merger with Nicor Inc. Our expectations are not guarantees and are based on currently available competitive, financial and economic
data along with our operating plans. While we believe our expectations are reasonable in view of the currently available information, our expectations are subject to future events, risks and
uncertainties, and there are several factors - many beyond our control - that could cause results to differ significantly from our expectations.
Such events, risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, changes in price, supply and demand for natural gas and related products; the impact of changes in state and federal legislation and
regulation including changes related to climate change; actions taken by government agencies on rates and other matters; concentration of credit risk; utility and energy industry consolidation; the
impact on cost and timeliness of construction projects by government and other approvals, development project delays, adequacy of supply of diversified vendors, unexpected change in project costs,
including the cost of funds to finance these projects; the impact of acquisitions and divestitures; direct or indirect effects on our business, financial condition or liquidity resulting from a change in our
credit ratings or the credit ratings of our counterparties or competitors; interest rate fluctuations; financial market conditions, including recent disruptions in the capital markets and lending environment
and the current economic downturn; general economic conditions; uncertainties about environmental issues and the related impact of such issues; the impact of changes in weather, including climate
change, on the temperature-sensitive portions of our business; the impact of natural disasters such as hurricanes on the supply and price of natural gas; acts of war or terrorism; and other factors
which are provided in detail in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements are only as of the date they are made, and we do not undertake to update these
statements to reflect subsequent changes.
Supplemental Information
Company management evaluates segment financial performance based on earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT), which includes the effects of corporate expense allocations and on operating
margin. EBIT is a non-GAAP (accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America) financial measure that includes operating income, other income and expenses. Items that are
not included in EBIT are financing costs, including debt and interest expense and income taxes. The company evaluates each of these items on a consolidated level and believes EBIT is a useful
measurement of our performance because it provides information that can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of our businesses from an operational perspective, exclusive of the costs to finance
those activities and exclusive of income taxes, neither of which is directly relevant to the efficiency of those operations. Operating margin is a non-GAAP measure calculated as operating revenues
minus cost of gas, excluding operation and maintenance expense, depreciation and amortization, and taxes other than income taxes. These items are included in the company's calculation of
operating income. The company believes operating margin is a better indicator than operating revenues of the contribution resulting from customer growth, since cost of gas is generally passed
directly through to customers. In addition, in this presentation, the company has presented its earnings per share excluding expenses incurred with respect to the proposed Nicor merger. As the
company does not routinely engage in transactions of the magnitude of the proposed Nicor merger, and consequently does not regularly incur transaction related expenses with correlative size, the
company believes presenting EPS excluding Nicor merger expenses provides investors with an additional measure of the company’s core operating performance. EBIT, operating margin and EPS
excluding merger expenses should not be considered as alternatives to, or more meaningful indicators of, the company's operating performance than operating income, net income attributable to AGL
Resources Inc. or EPS as determined in accordance with GAAP. In addition, the company's EBIT, operating margin and non-GAAP EPS may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of another
company. We also present certain non-GAAP financial measures excluding the effects of our proposed merger with Nicor. Because we complete material mergers and acquisitions only occasionally,
we believe excluding these effects from certain measures is useful because they allow investors to more easily evaluate and compare the performance of the Company's core businesses from period
to period. Reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures referenced in this presentation are available on the company’s Web site at www.aglresources.com
10
