NewJersey Resources Corporation

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. My name is Abby and I'll be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the New Jersey Resources fiscal 2025 fourth quarter and year end financial results conference call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during that time, simply press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press star one a second time. Thank you. And I would now like to turn the conference over to Adam Pryor, Director of Investor Relations. You may begin.

Thank you. Welcome to New Jersey Resources Fiscal 2025 Fourth Quarter and Year End Conference Call and Webcast. I am joined here today by Steve Westhoven, our President and CEO, Roberto Bell, our Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, as well as other members of our Senior Management Team. Certain statements in today's call contain estimates and other forward-looking statements within the meaning of the securities laws. We wish to caution listeners of this call that the current expectations, assumptions, and beliefs forming the basis of our forward-looking statements include many factors that are beyond our ability to control or estimate precisely. This could cause results to materially differ from our expectations as found on slide two. These items can also be found in the forward-looking statements section of yesterday's earnings release, furnished on form 8K, and in our most recent forms, 10-K and 10-Q, as filed with the SEC. We do not, by including this statement, assume any obligation to review or revise any particular forward-looking statement referenced herein in light of future events. We will also be referring to certain non-GAAP financial measures, such as net financial earnings or NFE. We believe that NFE, net financial loss, utility gross margin, financial margin, adjusted funds from operations, and adjusted debt provide a more complete understanding of our financial performance. However, these non-GAAP measures are not intended to be a substitute for GAAP. Our non-GAAP financial measures are discussed more fully in Item 7 of our 10-K. The slides for today's presentation are available on our website and were furnished on our Form 8-K filed yesterday. Steve will start with this year's highlights in a business unit overview, beginning on slide 5. Roberto will then review our financial results. Then we will open it up for your questions. With that said, I will turn the call over to our President and CEO, Steve Westhoven.

Please go ahead, Steve. Thanks, Adam, and good morning, everyone. I hope you all had a chance to review our earnings materials, which include detailed disclosures on our growth prospects. I wanted to start by discussing a few highlights. We delivered excellent results in fiscal 2025, driven by strong execution and performance. For the fifth year in a row, we exceeded initial earnings guidance and long-term growth targets. After a successful 2025, there were a few key themes as you look ahead for fiscal 2026 and beyond. First, consistency and execution. We're guiding to NFVPS of 303 to 318 per share in fiscal 2026. The range is consistent with our long-term 7 to 9% growth rate, while leaving additional room for upside. Second, targeted capital deployment. We expect to invest roughly $5 billion over the next five years across the whole company, with roughly 60% allocated to our utility, New Jersey Natural Gas. To put the $5 billion into context, this represents a 40% increase compared to the CapEx spent over the last five years. Third, a healthy balance sheet anchored in disciplined financial management. We expect credit metrics to remain strong with healthy cash flows, ample liquidity, and a balanced debt maturity profile that supports long-term stability. Importantly, NJR requires no block equity issuance to execute on its capital plan. On the next slide we highlight a few of the key drivers that are business segments. To begin, New Jersey natural gas is positioned for high single digit rate based growth through 2030. S&T is expected to more than double net financial earnings by 2027, driven by favorable recontracting of both Adelphia and Leaf River. Looking ahead, we recently filed with FERC a plan to increase working gas capacity by over 70% at Leaf River. And at Clean Energy Ventures, we expect to expand capacity by more than 50% over the next two years with a robust pipeline of safe harbor projects. In short, through a disciplined capital investment strategy, we have visibility to deliver sustainable growth well into the future, supported by a solid balance sheet. And we're able to achieve all this with minimal dilution to shareholders. Let me turn to a brief discussion of each business unit, starting with the New Jersey Natural Gas on slide seven, Our planned investments at New Jersey Natural Gas are expected to drive high single-digit rate-based growth through 2030. New Jersey Natural Gas operates within a constructive utility framework and continues to make responsible investments in safety and reliability while prioritizing affordability for our customers. Natural Gas is by far the cheapest option for customers to heat their home. Energy efficiency programs such as Save Green further reduce usage and costs while aligning with environmental goals. For example, residential customers who fully participate in Save Green Whole Home offerings see a reduction of up to 30% in their energy usage, saving hundreds of dollars in utility costs every year. Moving to the next slide, storage and transportation is emerging as a key earnings growth driver for NJR. Over the next few years, we expect NFE to more than double at S&T, and this is largely driven by strong recontracting in both the Delphi and Leaf River. These are fixed-price contracts with quality, creditworthy counterparties. We recently reached a settlement in our FERC rate case at Adelphia. This constructive outcome enables recovery of the substantial investments and operational improvements made in recent years. While near-term earnings are set to double, we are actively pursuing organic growth opportunities for additional off-site at Leaf River, which we outline on the next slide. When we acquired Leaf River in 2019, it positioned NJR as a leading service provider on the Gulf Coast, one of the highest growing energy demand centers in the United States. In addition to the prime location, the long-term value of the asset was enhanced by expansion options beyond the three existing operating caverns. Since our purchase of the asset, market demand has strengthened. Throughout fiscal 2025, we conducted a number of non-binding open seasons, which confirmed a high level of commercial interest in capacity expansion. Following this favorable response, We filed a FERC application at the end of October that included several complementary investments to increase Leaf River's working gas capacity by over 70%. They include the expansion of our existing caverns to a working gas capacity of 43 BCF by 2028, and the development of an additional fourth cavern that will bring total capacity to 55 BCF. Each phase of the investment is expected to be backed by long-term fee-based contracts, building on our already strong NFE growth. This phased approach has an inherent speed-to-market advantage that positions NJR ahead of greenfield development options. To conclude, we see considerable upside in both the near and long-term as S&T becomes a greater contributor to NJR's earnings profile. Moving to clean energy ventures in slide 10, we expect to grow in-service capacity by more than 50% over the next two years. Looking ahead, we have a strong project pipeline designed to maintain investment tax credits through strategic safe harboring. This positioned CEV to deliver continued growth in five single-digit unlevered returns. So with that, I'll turn the call over to Roberto for a financial review.