-----BEGIN PRIVACY-ENHANCED MESSAGE----- Proc-Type: 2001,MIC-CLEAR Originator-Name: webmaster@www.sec.gov Originator-Key-Asymmetric: MFgwCgYEVQgBAQICAf8DSgAwRwJAW2sNKK9AVtBzYZmr6aGjlWyK3XmZv3dTINen TWSM7vrzLADbmYQaionwg5sDW3P6oaM5D3tdezXMm7z1T+B+twIDAQAB MIC-Info: RSA-MD5,RSA, FQzv8x2NfPuC/3c8TC6r/1/K/PBy7s2cWFZ2YxNmI0Jg+z8Tbbxo+TOT/fRNFkkh 9oqxpQM0Sfnq7ER+RB3cHg== 0001096385-02-000078.txt : 20021127 0001096385-02-000078.hdr.sgml : 20021127 20021127112023 ACCESSION NUMBER: 0001096385-02-000078 CONFORMED SUBMISSION TYPE: 8-K PUBLIC DOCUMENT COUNT: 3 CONFORMED PERIOD OF REPORT: 20021127 ITEM INFORMATION: Other events FILED AS OF DATE: 20021127 FILER: COMPANY DATA: COMPANY CONFORMED NAME: VECTREN UTILITY HOLDINGS INC CENTRAL INDEX KEY: 0001129542 STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION: WHOLESALE-PETROLEUM & PETROLEUM PRODUCTS (NO BULK STATIONS) [5172] IRS NUMBER: 352104850 STATE OF INCORPORATION: IN FISCAL YEAR END: 1231 FILING VALUES: FORM TYPE: 8-K SEC ACT: 1934 Act SEC FILE NUMBER: 001-16739 FILM NUMBER: 02842423 BUSINESS ADDRESS: STREET 1: 20 NW 4TH ST CITY: EVANSVILLE STATE: IN ZIP: 47708 BUSINESS PHONE: 8124914000 8-K 1 vuhi8k-moody_nov02.txt VECTREN UTILITY HOLDINGS 8K RESPONSE TO MOODYS SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, DC 20549 FORM 8-K CURRENT REPORT Pursuant to Section 13 of 15(d) of The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported) November 25, 2002 VECTREN UTILITY HOLDINGS, INC. (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter) Indiana 1-16739 35-2104850 ------- ------- ---------- (State of Incorporation) (Commission File Number) (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) 20 N.W. Fourth Street, Evansville, Indiana 47708 ------------------------------------------ ----- (Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code) Registrant's telephone number, including area code (812)491-4000 N/A (Former name or address, if changed since last report.) Item 5. Other Events On November 25, 2002, Moody's Investor's Services (Moody's) issued a press release regarding the downgrade of credit ratings on various debt instruments issued by certain of Vectren Corporation's (Vectren) wholly owned subsidiaries, specifically Vectren Utility Holdings, Inc., Southern Indiana Gas and Electric Company and Indiana Gas Company, Inc. Moody's also confirmed the existing ratings on the debt securities of Vectren Capital Corporation and provided a stable outlook for all ratings. A copy of the press release is attached. In connection with the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, the Company is hereby filing cautionary statements identifying important factors that could cause actual results of the Company and its subsidiaries, including Indiana Gas Company, Inc. and Southern Indiana Gas and Electric Company, to differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements of the Company and its subsidiaries made by, or on behalf of, the Company and its subsidiaries. Item 7. Exhibits 99-1 Press Release - Moody's Investor's Services 99-2 Cautionary Statement for Purposes of the "Safe Harbor" Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 SIGNATURES Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized. VECTREN UTILITY HOLDINGS, INC. November 27, 2002 By: /s/ Jerome A. Benkert, Jr. ---------------------------------------- Jerome A. Benkert, Jr. Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial Officer) EX-99.1 PRESS RELEAS 3 vuhi_exh99-1.txt PRESS RELEASE EX 99-1 Global Credit Research Rating Action 25 NOV 2002 MOODY'S DOWNGRADES VECTREN UTILITY HOLDINGS INC.'S DEBT AND THAT OF ITS RATED UTILITIES, INDIANA GAS AND SOUTHERN INDIANA GAS & ELECTRIC TO Baa1 (SR. UNS.); VUHI'S RATING FOR COMMERCIAL PAPER IS DOWNGRADED TO P-2 AND THE DEBT RATING OF VECTREN CAPITAL IS Approximately $1.350 Billion of Debt are Affected New York, November 25, 2002 -- Moody's Investor's Service downgraded to Baa1 the senior unsecured debt of Vectren Utility Holdings, Inc. (VUHI) a first-tier subsidiary of Vectren Corporation (Parent, no public debt outstanding) and intermediate holding company for its regulated utility subsidiaries Indiana Gas Company, Inc. (IGC), Southern Indiana Gas & Electric Co. (SIGECO) and Vectren Energy Delivery of Ohio (VEDO) which is unrated. VUHI's debt is guaranteed jointly and severally by its regulated utility subsidiaries, as it has no operating assets of its own. The regulated utility business accounts for over 70% of corporate earnings of Vectren. Also downgraded to Baa1 is the senior unsecured debt of IGC and SIGECO. VUHI's CP rating is downgraded to P-2. The outlook is stable. Meanwhile, Moody's confirmed the Baa2 rating for the senior unsecured debt of Vectren Capital Corporation (VCC), the funding arm for Vectren's unregulated businesses. VCC's debt is guaranteed by the Parent, which requires the Parent to maintain a positive net worth and to provide funds for timely payment of VCC's debt service obligations. In event of VCC's default, lenders have recourse against the Parent, which in turn has the ability to extract dividends from the regulated utilities to fund cash needs of the unregulated businesses. From a state regulatory perspective, there are no statutory limitations in Indiana or Ohio regarding the amount or timing of dividend payments from any of the regulated utilities, nor is there any explicit requirement that they maintain minimum levels of equity or maximum levels of debt. By the same token, Vectren's unregulated businesses have in the past and will continue to have in the future, the ability to transfer capital to the utilities through the Parent, among the various entities. This corporate flexibility in managing funds flows between the two sides of the house is an important reason why the debt ratings on the non-regulated side of Vectren are notched only one level below those of the regulated side, rather than maintaining the previous three notch differential. Overall, the non-regulated side of Vectren has also demonstrated an ability to sustain profitability and generate cash flows that could be either retained in the business or used to supplement the capital growth requirements on the utility side. This rating action concludes a review on the Vectren group commenced on August 27, 2002. Moody's action reflects the declining credit and fixed charge coverage measures over the past two years, which have been weaker when compared with those of its A2 rated utility peers. These credit measures were impacted by the effects of acquisitions and integration costs, high gas costs stemming from the 2000-2001 winter that culminated in increased levels of bad debt expenses, higher levels of debt financing, excise taxes and were followed by warmer than normal weather in the 2001-2002 winter which further depressed gas utility earnings. Moreover, unlike many other gas distribution companies, the Vectren gas utilities have been operating without the benefit of any weather normalization clauses or weather insurance in any of their jurisdictions and their weather mitigation efficiency is among the lowest in the industry. These structural differences when coupled with higher leverage of VUHI (retained cash flow to total debt of 11.3% and total debt to total capitalization of 59% vs. average of 16% and 48%, respectively, for "A2" rated utilities) serve to accentuate its credit measure deficiencies. On the EBIT/Interest Expense and Funds From Operations to Fixed Charge coverage side, VUHI's 2.7 and 3.9 do not compare favorably with the A2 utility averages of 3.8 and 4.4, respectively. Moody's notes that while the company plans on taking measures to specifically address certain weaknesses in its capital structure and that of its operating subsidiaries, these plans will take several quarters to implement and the effects of their benefit as well as those of future earnings growth will not be realized for some time. On the NOx coal plant emissions front for SIGECO, Vectren advises that it has reached a settlement agreement with the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor for the recovery of environmental expenditures in the approximate amount of $244 million, allowing for cost recoveries to occur every six months (including a 12.25% cost of equity capital recovery) to bring its emissions in compliance with state and federal standards. While this settlement is still subject to Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) approval, its acceptance would close a significant regulatory question that the company has with respect to covering these necessary, but "non-productive" costs of operation. In arriving at a single senior unsecured long-term debt rating for the various utilities, Moody's notes that Vectren operates the three utility subsidiaries of VUHI as if they were one single utility division, with each company remitting dividends to the Parent as its earnings and capitalization permit, and each issuing debt through VUHI as its needs may dictate. Any future short or long-term debt needs would be issued through VUHI, which debt issuance would be jointly and severally guaranteed by IGC, SIGECO and VEDO. The rating also factors in the low returns on investments made by IGC for its 47% share and VEDO for its 53% share for purchasing the gas business from The Dayton Power and Light Company in 2000 at substantial premium; no returns on capital are currently earned on the goodwill portion of the acquisitions price. Finally, while VCC has been unsuccessful in removing the $113MM rating triggers imbedded in its unsecured notes that mature over ten years, it has obtained the consent of its line banks to waive any cross-default that may arise in its $170MM bank facility on account of a rating trigger occurrence. Furthermore, Vectren is taking measures to improve the liquidity and capitalization of the non-regulated side of the business to better enable the funding of any such potential cash call. Moody's will monitor the company's progress in this area. The stable outlook is predicated on the assumption that the NOx settlement will be approved by the IURC, Vectren Corporation will issue new equity capital in 2003 to enable its operating subsidiaries to strengthen their balance sheets and that the earnings and cash flows on both the regulated and unregulated businesses continue to improve. The following ratings are affected: VUHI - from A2 senior unsecured debt to Baa1, from P-1 Commercial Paper to P-2; IGC - from A2 senior unsecured debt to Baa1; SIGECO - from A1 senior secured notes and First Mortgage Bonds to A3, from A2 long-term issuer rating to Baa1, from VMIG 1 pollution control revenue bonds to VMIG 2; VCC - Baa2 senior unsecured notes, confirmed. Vectren Corporation is based in Evansville, Indiana and is the holding company for the company's non-regulated businesses and gas and electric regulated utility businesses. Its first-tier subsidiaries include Vectren Capital Corporation and Vectren Utility Holdings, Inc., whose subsidiaries in turn include Indiana Gas Company, Inc. and Southern Indiana Gas and Electric Company. The non-regulated businesses consist principally of energy marketing and services, coal mining, utility infrastructure services and broadband. New York John Diaz Managing Director Corporate Finance Group Moody's Investors Service JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376 SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653 New York Edward H. Tan Vice President - Senior Analyst Corporate Finance Group Moody's Investors Service JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376 SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653 EX-99.2 SAFE HARBOR 4 vuhi-safe_harbot.txt SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT EX 99-2 Cautionary Statement for Purposes of the "Safe Harbor" Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. A "safe harbor" for forward-looking statements is provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (Reform Act of 1995). The Reform Act of 1995 was adopted to encourage such forward-looking statements without the threat of litigation, provided those statements are identified as forward-looking and are accompanied by meaningful cautionary statements identifying important factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those projected in the statement. Certain matters described in Management's Discussion and Analysis of Results of Operations and Financial Condition are forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on management's beliefs, as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to management. When used in this filing, the words "believe," "anticipate," "endeavor," "estimate," "expect," "objective," "projection," "forecast," "goal," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In addition to any assumptions and other factors referred to specifically in connection with such forward-looking statements, factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in any forward-looking statements included, among others, the following: |X| Factors affecting utility operations such as unusual weather conditions; catastrophic weather-related damage; unusual maintenance or repairs; unanticipated changes to fossil fuel costs; unanticipated changes to gas supply costs, or availability due to higher demand, shortages, transportation problems or other developments; environmental or pipeline incidents; transmission or distribution incidents; unanticipated changes to electric energy supply costs, or availability due to demand, shortages, transmission problems or other developments; or electric transmission or gas pipeline system constraints. |X| Increased competition in the energy environment including effects of industry restructuring and unbundling. |X| Regulatory factors such as unanticipated changes in rate-setting policies or procedures, recovery of investments and costs made under traditional regulation, and the frequency and timing of rate increases. |X| Financial or regulatory accounting principles or policies imposed by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, state public utility commissions, state entities which regulate natural gas transmission, gathering and processing, and similar entities with regulatory oversight. |X| Economic conditions including the effects of an economic downturn, inflation rates, and monetary fluctuations. |X| Changing market conditions and a variety of other factors associated with physical energy and financial trading activities including, but not limited to, price, basis, credit, liquidity, volatility, capacity, interest rate, and warranty risks. |X| Availability or cost of capital, resulting from changes in the Company, including its security ratings, changes in interest rates, and/or changes in market perceptions of the utility industry and other energy-related industries. |X| Employee workforce factors including changes in key executives, collective bargaining agreements with union employees, or work stoppages. |X| Legal and regulatory delays and other obstacles associated with mergers, acquisitions, and investments in joint ventures. |X| Costs and other effects of legal and administrative proceedings, settlements, investigations, claims, and other matters, including, but not limited to, those described in periodic filings made with the Commission by Vectren Corporation and its subsidiaries, Vectren Utility Holdings, Inc., Indiana Gas Company, Inc. and Southern Indiana Gas and Electric Company. |X| Changes in federal, state or local legislature requirements, such as changes in tax laws or rates, environmental laws and regulations. Vectren Corporation and its subsidiaries undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of changes in actual results, changes in assumptions, or other factors affecting such statements. -----END PRIVACY-ENHANCED MESSAGE-----