Global Water Resources, Inc.

Greetings, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Global Water Resources, Inc. 2024 Second Quarter Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question and answer session. Instructions will be provided at that time for you to queue up for questions. If anyone has any difficulties hearing the conference, please press star zero for operator assistance at any time. I would like to remind everyone that this call is being recorded on August 8th, 2024 at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. I would now like to turn the conference over to Joanne Ellsworth, Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs. Please go ahead.

Welcome, everyone, and thank you for joining us on today's call. Yesterday, we issued our 2024 Second Quarter financial results by press release, a copy of which is available on our website at .gweresources.com. Speaking today is Ron Fleming, President and Chief Executive Officer, Mike Liebman, Chief Financial Officer, and Chris Krieger, Chief Operating Officer. Ron will summarize the key operational events of the quarter. Mike will review the financial results for the second quarter, and Chris will review strategic initiatives and Arizona Corporation Commission activity for the quarter. Ron, Mike, and Chris will be available to answer questions at the end of the call. Before we begin, I would like to remind you that certain information presented today may include forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect the company's current expectations, estimates, projections, and assumptions regarding future events. These forward-looking statements involve a number of assumptions, risks, uncertainties, estimates, and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which reflect management's views as of the day hereof and are not guarantees of future performance. For additional information regarding factors that may affect future results, please read the sections regarding risk factors and management's discussion and analysis of financial conditions and results of operations included within our latest Form 10-Q filed with the SEC. Such filings are available at .sec.gov. Certain non-GAAP measures may be included within today's call. For a reconciliation of these measures to the comparable GAAP financial measures, please see the tables included in yesterday's earnings release, which is also available on our website. I will now turn the call over to Ron.

Thank you, Joanne. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. We are very pleased to report the results for the second quarter of 2024. I will start with some operational highlights. Total active service connections increased .9% to 63,256 as of June 30th, 2024, from the 12 months prior. The 2024 annualized growth rate is 4.7%. While our organic growth rate remains strong in the face of higher interest rates, it's also important to highlight that our -over-year regulated revenue growth rate continues to trend even higher, which is up 5.3%. Mike will provide the details on regulated revenue growth drivers. -to-date, we've invested 12.2 million into our infrastructure, improving our existing utilities to provide safe and reliable service. And finally, with public health and safety being our top mandate, we are very proud of our compliance record. For the quarter, we had zero significant compliance events, continuing our streak from 2023 and prior. And in fact, this means it has been nearly seven years without a significant compliance event. Now I want to discuss organic customer growth and what is going on in our core utilities. The single-family dwelling unit market ended 2023 with approximately 22,582 building permits issued in the Phoenix Greater Metro Area. For the first half of this year, this market realized 14,433 building permits, representing a 43% increase from Q2 of 2023. In 2023, the city of Maricopa issued 888 single-family dwelling permits. For the first half of the year, this market realized 559 building permits, representing a 43% increase from the first half of 2023. As you can see, the -to-date Q2 2024 permit data was strong in both Metro Phoenix and the city of Maricopa. However, with interest rates inching back up because of the continued inflation fight, it is hard to anticipate the potential significance this will have on the housing market in the near term. However, there is strong consensus that there remains a housing shortage in Metro Phoenix, and thus over time, Metro Phoenix will retain an annual run rate approaching 30,000 housing units per year to keep pace with net immigration and the job growth. This demand must be met by a combination of single-family dwelling units and multi-family. On this note, as previously reported, there was a significant shift occurring in the city of Maricopa to large-scale, high-density, multi-family dwelling complexes, along with more commercial and retail businesses. We believe this shift will be notable and at some level supplant the reduction in single-family home growth. In fact, the -to-date 2024 multi-family housing unit data was also strong in the city of Maricopa, with 1,176 units permitted compared to 315 units permitted in the first half of 2023. This represents an increase of 861 units permitted, or 273%. Looking ahead, this is a record number of additional multi-family projects in some stage of development. The fact is, the booming economy and net immigration that Arizona continues to realize requires more and more places for people to live, work, and play. That is why large-scale multi-family housing, commercial and recreational projects continue to accelerate at an extremely high pace in Metro Phoenix and in our service areas. Additionally, the industrial manufacturing boom also continues. Previously, 2022 was the single best year for Arizona all time from an industrial economic development investment perspective, and that was eclipsed in 2023, with $40.7 billion invested in the state just last year. There has been significant further announcements made in 2024, including additional planned expansions at TSMC and Intel, as the chip industry continues to explode here. Frankly, what continues to occur here in Arizona is unprecedented. Because of these things, we remain bullish on the future potential of our inland port Arizona service area. We're a Nikola Motor Corp facility in Proctor Gamble recently acquired land. Additionally, the City of Maricopa recently announced and gave a public presentation on a very large industrial complex they are preparing to bring to market right in the center of the City of Maricopa. Initial plans include over 1,200 acres of an industrial corridor with a smart rail park, as it is adjacent to a double railroad. Recently, the city ran a request for interest process on the land, and they had more interest than land available. Respondents included a half dozen large, reputable existing businesses that are looking for large property in Arizona to relocate to. If you're interested in learning more, I recommend you visit the City of Maricopa's YouTube page and watch the video recording of Rick Horst's presentation to the City Council on July 16th. More information to come on this exciting project in the future. Based on all of these trends, we believe that in the years to come, we will continue to see considerable, large-scale commercial, multi-family, and industrial growth in addition to the return of even stronger organic housing growth. As I mentioned in our earnings release, yes, high inflation and other cost drivers have caught up with us and impacted our earnings growth a bit so far this year. However, it's important to recognize that 2024 is a test year for our largest utilities, whose last test year was five years ago in 2019. We need new rates to address all the cost increases over that time period and the significant investments we have made. So while 2024 will be another solid year for global water, putting all of these things together, and that means the four ways we grow, organic, new service areas, acquisitions, and the subsequent rate cases on all of that, you can see how global water is going to be able to grow earnings considerably in the years to come as we continue to advance our mission of growing and aggregating water and wastewater utilities so that our customers can realize the benefits of consolidation, regionalization, and environmental stewardship in the face of this rapid growth, water scarcity, challenging regulations, and aging infrastructure. I will now turn the call over to Mike for financial highlights.

Thanks, Ron. Hello, everyone. Total revenue for the second quarter of 2024 was $13.5 million, which is up 500,000 or .9% compared to Q2 of 2023. The increase in revenue was primarily attributable to the .9% organic growth in our service areas offset by lower consumption from construction and irrigation customers. Operating expenses for Q2 2024 were 10.7 million compared to 10.0 million in Q2 of 2023. This is an increase of approximately 700,000 or 7.2%. Notable changes in operating expenses include 291,000 increase in depreciation and amortization expense tied to our capital expenditure program, a portion of which is related to the activation of the Southwest plant in July 2023. Additionally, we amortized approximately 81,000 of intangible assets in Q2 2024 that didn't occur in Q2 2023. Increased operating and maintenance costs by 304,000, which is primarily attributable to increased repairs and maintenance costs, medical expenses, salaries and wages, as well as higher utility and chemical expenses, which increase as we grow. Increased general and administrative costs by 128,000, which was primarily attributable to increased salary and wages and hiring and moving expenses. These are partially offset by lower deferred compensation expense. Now to discuss other income and expense. Other expense for Q2 2024 was 469,000, which was lower compared to the 540,000 of expense in Q2 2023. This reduction was driven by an increase in interest income offset by higher interest expense tied to the $20 million note we executed at the beginning of the year. Net income for Q2 2024 was 1.7 million or seven cents per diluted share, which is consistent with Q2 2023. Now to talk about adjusted EBITDA, which adjusts for non-returning items, such as ICFA revenue, as well as non-cash items, such as restricted stock exchange, and non-cash items, which is consistent with Q2 2024 deferral dock expense. Adjusted EBITDA was 6.8 million in Q2 2024, and was 6.7 million in Q2 2023. And lastly, as I mentioned on our previous earnings calls, as part of our current Southwest Plant depreciation deferral docket, we discovered that in 2007, $7.8 million of our Southwest Plant infrastructure was prematurely included as plant and service for rate making purposes. As a result, these costs were inadvertently included in rates as part of our 2010 rate order, as well as our 2014 and 2022 rate orders. We met with the Arizona Corporation Commission staff on March 1st to bring this to their attention, and then we subsequently filed an application with the Arizona Corporation Commission on April 25th, requesting a customer bill credit that would reduce our monthly revenues by approximately 47,000. The ACC issued decision number 79424 on July 18th, 2024, approving the bill credit with an effective date of August 1st, 2024, which will reduce revenue earned subsequent to the order by approximately $570,000 a year. The bill credit will be in place until the conclusion of the next global water Palo Verde rate case, which decision number 79424 requires global water Palo Verde to file no later than December 31st, 2025. While the exact outcome and resolution cannot be predicted and could be material, we believe the approval of this bill credit is a positive first step in resolving this issue amicably in a way that is fair to all of our stakeholders, including customers and shareholders. This concludes our update on the second quarter of 2024 financial results. I'll now pass the call to Chris to review the remaining regulatory activity and strategic initiatives for the quarter.

Thank you, Mike. Hello, everyone. It has been a very busy quarter at the Arizona Corporation Commission since the last time we spoke. First, we received the final commission decision for the global water Saguaro district rate case. The commission voted unanimously to approve the settlement agreement with minor modifications. We started charging these new rates effective July 1st. We appreciate the hard work by the utility division staff and the commission on this case, especially since it was the first settlement agreement approved by the commission in a number of years. Second, as we mentioned last quarter, we were actively underway preparing a rate case for the global water farmers utility. On June 27th, 2024, we filed that rate case with the commission requesting a revenue increase of approximately $1.3 million. On July 25th, 2024, the ACC utility division staff determined that our rate case met administrative sufficiency and the case is now following the typical process. The staff estimates filing their testimony in December 2024. As is always the case with rate case filings, we cannot guarantee what action the commission may or may not take. Third, as previously discussed, and you heard Ron mentioned earlier, we are in a test year for global water Santa Cruz and global water Palo Verde, our two largest utilities. We continue our proactive customer outreach efforts and stakeholder outreach efforts to educate the community on the investments we are making to ensure we continue providing safe, reliable service and stay ahead of growth. We anticipate filing that case in the first half of 2025. Finally, on May 10th, 2024, we filed an application at the ACC requesting approval of the Tucson acquisition and that case is now processing as well. This concludes my update on strategic initiatives and regulatory activity for the quarter. I'll now pass the call back to Ron.

Thank you, Chris. It remains clear we continue to achieve meaningful growth despite the headwinds. As we execute our growth plan, we intend to remain at the forefront of the water management industry and advance our mission of achieving efficiency and consolidation. We truly believe that expanding our total water management platform and applying our expertise throughout our regional service areas and to new utilities will be beneficial to all stakeholders involved. We appreciate your investment and support of us as we grow global water to address important utility, water resource and economic development matters along the Arizona sun corridor, allowing our communities to thrive. That highlight concludes our prepared remarks. Thank you. We're now available to answer your questions.

We will now begin the question and answer session. To ask a question, you may press star, then one on your touchtone phone. If you're using a speaker phone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. If at any time your question has been addressed and you would like to withdraw your question, please press star then two. At this time, we will pause momentarily to assemble our roster.

Again, if you have a question, please press star then one. Our first question comes from Jerry

Sweeney with Ross Capital. Please go ahead.

Hey, good morning guys. Thanks for taking my call. I only had one real question. Wanted to see if you could discuss acquisition, acquisition price line and just anything that's happening in that space. Thanks.

Hey Jerry, this is Chris. Thanks for the question. Yeah, right now there are still opportunities out there. As you know, Arizona is highly fragmented. I think the commission number is still over 300 utilities is the number that they reference in the state. Right now we're pretty focused on getting the Tucson acquisition approved at the commission. We filed that earlier in the quarter. And then I think as we go through getting that closer to the finish line, integrating it, we'll start to think about what the next steps in the process look for us in continuing that journey.

Gotcha. Did you give an indication of when you think the Tucson acquisition would be approved and closed?

If

you didn't,

do

you have one? Thanks.

Yeah, good question. So we're generally targeting either end of the year or early in the first quarter, sometime around then.

Perfect, good for me. Thanks guys, in the next quarter. Thanks, Harry. Again, if you have a question, please press star then one. Seeing no further questions, I'd like to now turn

the call back over to Mr. Fleming.

Sir,

please go ahead.

Thank you, operator. Just wanna thank everybody for participating on the call and for your ongoing support of Global Water. Thanks, and we look forward to speaking with you again.

This concludes today's conference call. You may disconnect your lines, thank you for participating, and have a great rest of your day.