Prepared Remarks of Edison International CEO and CFO
Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Earnings Teleconference
February 22, 2024, 1:30 p.m. (PT)
Pedro Pizarro, President and Chief Executive Officer, Edison International
I am pleased to report that Edison International’s core EPS for 2023 was $4.76, which was above the midpoint of our guidance range despite the pending CEMA decision shifting into 2024. This strong performance demonstrates our ability to manage the business and extends our track record of meeting annual EPS guidance over the last two decades, as shown on page 3. Today, we are introducing 2024 EPS guidance of $4.75 to $5.05. This range incorporates a planned investment in O&M for reliability-focused activities and redeploys savings from prior years into operational excellence initiatives. This spending will benefit customers and therefore shareholders in the long run. I also reaffirm the strong confidence we have in our long-term EPS growth targets of 5 to 7% for 2021 through 2025, and 2025 through 2028. Maria will discuss our financial performance and outlook later on the call.
Page 4 shows our accomplishments in 2023. First, we once again delivered on our annual EPS guidance. Second, SCE exceeded its wildfire mitigation plan target to install 1,100 circuit miles of covered conductor, bringing the total to more than 5,580 in just five years. We are proud of this progress, which, combined with enhanced vegetation management, asset inspections, and other programs, has significantly reduced the need for public safety power shutoffs. Incorporating this progress into the independent wildfire risk model managed by Moody’s RMS, you can see on page 5 that SCE has achieved 85 to 88% risk reduction as compared to pre-2018 levels. Third, SCE filed its cost recovery application for the TKM events, requesting $2.4 billion. SCE provided a compelling case that it prudently designed, managed, and operated its equipment, and that the associated costs were reasonably incurred. Lastly, we raised our annual dividend by 5.8%, reflecting the board and management’s continued confidence and commitment to delivering on our EPS growth targets. Our dividend yield is in excess of 4% and remains a key component of our total return proposition. This marked the 20th consecutive annual increase in Edison International’s dividend.