RE:Ebitda/debtAccording to Tim Watson CFO
"I am getting close to my finishing comments here. The WGL transaction in terms of balance sheet and financial strength remains highly accretive to both FFO per share and earnings-per-share accretion beginning the first full year of 2019. With the close of the transaction and following the completion of our funding strategy, our balance sheet metrics will significantly improve.
In 2019, we expect our FFO to debt, calculated based on S&P’s definition, to move towards the mid-teens level and net debt to EBITDA to trend down towards 5 times, again consistent with what we’ve been saying.
So in closing, before I pass it over to Adrian, I wanted to emphasize some key points. Our business is performing as expected and our outlook for 2018 remains strong. AltaGas has significant investment opportunities particularly in Gas and US Utilities over the near and midterm. WGL’s business is performing well and in line with our expectations. The transaction itself remains highly accretive to AltaGas for both FFO per share and earnings per share in 2019.
We will reshape our business through the asset monetization process, which supports the completion of our funding. As noted, the asset sale steps continue to progress and we look to focus on selling assets with the remaining assets being the foundation for our next phase of growth.
Reshaping our business is one part of the puzzle. We are also optimizing our operating businesses to enhance the long-term value creation as well. We’re committed to maintaining a solid balance sheet and improving our credit metrics.
And finally, we expect to continue to have a visible dividend growth, while being mindful of our payout ratio as well as balancing dividend growth with investment in the meaningful growth opportunities we have in our businesses"
Either the people who are on the inside and worked for years to get this deal done are incompetent and will find themselves with no jobs and a besmirched reputation......or not. Take your pick. Going from expecting to have visible dividend growth to a dividend cut is a giant leap that a CFO should see coming in this highly regulated business, its pure fear mongering we are even having this discussion at this point.