SEC Company Response from FIRSTENERGY CORP (FE) (CIK 0001031296) (FE) — Nov 6, 2006
FIRSTENERGY CORP (FE) (CIK 0001031296)
Date: Nov. 6, 2006 · CIK: 0001031296 · Accession: 0001031296-06-000256
AI Filing Summary & Sentiment
File numbers found in text: 333-21011
Referenced dates: September 8, 2006
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CORRESP
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filename1.htm
SEC Response Letter Dated 11-6-06
November
6,
2006
Mr.
Jim Allegretto
Senior
Assistant
Chief Accountant
Division
of
Corporation Finance
Securities
and
Exchange Commission
Mail
Stop
3561
100
F Street, N.E.
Washington,
D.C.
20549
Re:
FirstEnergy
Corp.
Form
10-K for
Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2005
Filed
March 2,
2006
Forms
10-Q for
Fiscal Quarters Ended
March
31, 2006
and June 30, 2006
File
No.
333-21011
Dear
Mr.
Allegretto:
This
letter is in
response to your further correspondence dated October 23, 2006 regarding your
review of the filings by FirstEnergy Corp. on Form 10-K for the fiscal year
ended December 31, 2005 (Form 10-K), and Forms 10-Q for the periods ended
March 31, 2006 and June 30, 2006. Your additional comment is indicated
below in italics, followed by our response.
Form
10-K for
Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2005
Exhibit
13
Management’s
Discussion and Analysis of Results of Operations and Financial
Condition,
page
4
Executive
Summary, page 4
1.
We
have
reviewed your response to comment 3 in our letter dated September
8, 2006.
Please confirm that you will revise your disclosure in future filings
to
disclose the information you present in the first sub-response to
comment
3. Further, you state that you have never used the non-GAAP measures
in an
attempt to smooth earnings, thereby suggesting that Question 8 of
the
“Frequently Asked Questions Regarding the Use of Non-GAAP Financial
Measures” is inapplicable. Similarly, you indicate that all items excluded
from net income in arriving at “earnings before unusual items” are
non-recurring. Please note that we view items such as asset impairments
collectively in relation to each other in determining whether they
are
recurring. As such, we consider many of these items, such as asset
impairments, rate settlements, plant outages, and tax adjustments,
to be
recurring in nature. As you have excluded items of a recurring nature
in
arriving at both “earnings before unusual items” and “cash earnings,” we
believe Question 8 is applicable. As such, please show us how your
revised
disclosures, which should fully discuss each bullet point of Question
8,
will read in future filings. While you indicate management frequently
references non-GAAP measures in decision-making, ensure you explain
in
greater detail how you use the non-GAAP measures to conduct or evaluate
your business. For example, are such performance measures used in
budgetary, compensatory or resource allocation decisions? If you
do not
use the measures in managing your business, please revise to remove
such
measures from your filing. Finally, please tell us in detail how
you use
“cash earnings” to measure performance since it appears to be more akin to
a liquidity measure.
Mr.
Jim
Allegretto
November
6,
2006
Page
2 of
4
Response:
We
hereby
confirm the representation included in our letter to you dated September
21, 2006, that we will revise our disclosures in future filings to
disclose the information we presented in the first sub-response to
comment
3 of that letter.
With
respect
to your questions regarding our use of the non-GAAP “cash earnings”
measure, please be advised that we do not exclude any unusual items
(as we
use that term respecting our non-GAAP “earnings before unusual items”
measure) from the calculation. We include a reconciliation of net
income
computed under GAAP to the non-GAAP “cash earnings” measure, showing the
major non-cash charges or credits to income (e.g., depreciation,
amortization of regulatory assets, deferral of new regulatory assets).
The
intent of that non-GAAP measure is to provide readers of the cash
flow
statement with an enhanced understanding of how cash was provided
from
operating activities - by segregating earnings that are realized
in cash
during a typical business cycle from the effects of working capital
changes and other impacts to operating cash flows due to the timing
of
cash receipts and payments. This comparison tends to separate the
cash
impacts of operational performance versus working capital management
and
is used by management for cash forecasting, analyzing operational
performance (i.e., as a budgetary control) and identifying
trends.
The
non-GAAP
“earnings before unusual items” measure is used by management as a
budgetary control that in some cases influences resource allocation
issues. The Board of Directors also uses this non-GAAP measure as
one
component in its analysis in awarding performance-based compensation
to
executive management and employees.
In
future
filings, we will include disclosure similar to the following for
the
non-GAAP “earnings before unusual items” measure:
The
non-GAAP
measure above, earnings before unusual items, is not calculated in
accordance with GAAP because it excludes the impact of “unusual items”.
Unusual items reflect the impact on earnings of events that are not
routine or for which FirstEnergy believes the financial impact will
disappear or become immaterial within a near-term finite period.
By
removing the earnings effect of such issues that have been resolved
or are
expected to be resolved over the near-term, management and investors
can
better measure FirstEnergy’s business and earnings potential. In
particular, the non-core asset sales/impairments items refer to a
finite
set of energy-related assets that had been previously disclosed as
held
for sale, a substantial portion of which have already been sold.
Similarly, the NRC fine in 2005 and further litigation settlements
similar
to the New Source Review settlement in 2005 are not reasonably expected
to
occur in the near-term.
Mr.
Jim
Allegretto
November
6,
2006
Page 3
of
4
FirstEnergy
believes presenting normalized earnings calculated in this manner
provides
useful information to investors in evaluating the ongoing results
of
FirstEnergy’s businesses over the longer term and assists investors in
comparing FirstEnergy’s operating performance to the operating performance
of others in the energy sector. Generally, a non-GAAP financial
measure is
a numerical measure of a company’s historical or future financial
performance, financial position, or cash flows that either excludes
or
includes amounts, or is subject to adjustment that has the effect
of
excluding or including amounts, that are not normally excluded
or included
in the most directly comparable measure calculated and presented
in
accordance with GAAP. Earnings per share before unusual items
on a
non-GAAP basis (normalized earnings per share) are not calculated
in
accordance with GAAP because it excludes the impact of “unusual items.”
Unusual items reflect the impact on earnings of material events
that are
not routine, including those that may be related to discontinued
businesses or the cumulative effect of an accounting change.
The
non-GAAP
normalized earnings measure is an important performance metric used
by
management to assess the financial results of its business units
against
plan for the current year, to establish future performance targets
and
identify resources required by business units to reach those targets.
This
measure also assists management in setting FirstEnergy’s performance
expectations with the investment community for future periods, in
addition
to assisting investors in comparing FirstEnergy’s operating performance to
the operating performance of other companies in the energy sector.
Using
non-GAAP normalized earnings-based measures limits the ability to
compare
FirstEnergy’s economic value added or eroded based on net income computed
under GAAP and similar comparisons to that of peer companies. Therefore,
FirstEnergy clearly discloses the differences between the GAAP and
non-GAAP measures to compensate for that limitation. Non-GAAP measures
should be considered in addition to, and not as a substitute for,
their
most directly comparable financial measures prepared in accordance
with
GAAP.
*
* * *
FirstEnergy
Corp.
hereby acknowledges that:
·
FirstEnergy
is
responsible for the adequacy and accuracy of the disclosures relating
to
its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005
and
its Forms 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2006 and June 30,
2006;
·
Staff
comments
or changes to disclosure in response to staff comments do not foreclose
the Securities and Exchange Commission from taking any action with
respect
to the filing; and
Mr.
Jim
Allegretto
November
6,
2006
Page 4
of
4
·
FirstEnergy
may not assert staff comments as a defense in any proceeding initiated
by
the Securities and Exchange Commission or any person under the federal
securities laws of the United
States.
Please
feel free to
call me (330-384-5296) or Jeffrey R. Kalata, Assistant Controller (330-374-6580)
with any further questions you may have. I appreciate your assistance in
ensuring our compliance with the Commission’s disclosure
requirements.
Sincerely,
Harvey
L.
Wagner
Vice
President, Controller and
Chief
Accounting Officer
HLW:dlc
Attachment
cc:
Sarah
Goldberg
Staff
Accountant
Securities
and
Exchange Commission
Anthony
J.
Alexander
Richard
H.
Marsh
Leila
L.
Vespoli