Unaudited Financial Information

These consolidated interim-period financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States on the same basis, aside from accounting policy changes noted below, as those used for the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2018. In the opinion of management, all material adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals) necessary for a fair presentation have been made to the unaudited consolidated interim-period financial statements. These consolidated interim-period financial statements are condensed as permitted by the instructions to Form 10-Q and should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements of Atmos Energy Corporation included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2018. Because of seasonal and other factors, the results of operations for the three-month period ended December 31, 2018 are not indicative of our results of operations for the full 2019 fiscal year, which ends September 30, 2019.

No events have occurred subsequent to the balance sheet date that would require recognition or disclosure in the condensed consolidated financial statements.

Significant accounting policies

Our accounting policies are described in Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2018.

Accounting pronouncements adopted in fiscal 2019

In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued a comprehensive new revenue recognition standard that superseded virtually all existing revenue recognition guidance under generally accepted accounting principles in the United States. Under the new standard, an entity recognizes revenue when it transfers promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the company expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. We adopted the new guidance October 1, 2018 using the modified retrospective method. See Note 5 for our discussion of the effects of implementing this standard.

In January 2016, the FASB issued guidance related to the classification and measurement of financial instruments. The amendments modify the accounting and presentation for certain financial liabilities and equity investments not consolidated or reported using the equity method. Effective October 1, 2018, changes in the fair value of our equity securities formerly designated as available-for-sale are now recognized in other non-operating expense on our condensed consolidated statement of comprehensive income. Additionally, in accordance with the guidance, we reclassified a net $8.2 million unrealized gain related to these equity securities from accumulated other comprehensive income to retained earnings. The accounting for debt securities designated as available-for-sale did not change as a result of this new guidance. Accordingly, changes in the fair value of these securities will continue to be recorded as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income.

In March 2017, the FASB issued new guidance related to the statement of comprehensive income presentation of the components of net periodic benefit cost for an entity’s sponsored defined benefit pension and other postretirement plans. The new guidance requires entities to disaggregate the current service cost component of the net benefit cost from the other components and present it with other current compensation costs for related employees in the statement of comprehensive income. The other components of net benefit cost will be presented outside of income from operations on the statement of comprehensive income. In addition, under the new guidance only the service cost component of net benefit cost is eligible for capitalization (e.g., as part of inventory or property, plant, and equipment). The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which regulates interstate transmission pipelines and also establishes, through its Uniform System of Accounts, accounting practices for rate-regulated entities, has issued guidance that states it will permit an election to either continue to capitalize non-service benefit costs or to cease capitalizing such costs for regulatory purposes. Accounting guidelines by the FERC are typically also followed by state commissions. As such, we continue to capitalize into property, plant and equipment all components of net periodic benefit cost for ratemaking purposes and will defer the non-service cost components as a regulatory asset for U.S. GAAP reporting purposes on a prospective basis in accordance with the new guidance.

We adopted the new guidance beginning on October 1, 2018. We continue to present the service cost component of net periodic benefit cost within operation and maintenance expense; however, other components of the net periodic benefit cost are now presented separately within other non-operating expense on our condensed consolidated statement of comprehensive income. The changes in presentation were implemented on a retrospective basis in accordance with the guidance. In lieu of determining how each component of the net periodic benefit cost was actually reflected in the condensed statement of comprehensive income, we elected to utilize a practical expedient that permits the use of the amounts disclosed for each component of the net periodic benefit cost in our pension and post-retirement benefit plans footnote as the basis to retroactively apply this standard to all prior periods presented. The new standard did not have a material impact on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

In August 2018, the FASB issued new guidance aligning the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract with the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred to develop or obtain internal-use software (and hosting arrangements that include an internal-use software license). We elected to early adopt the new guidance on a prospective basis, beginning October 1, 2018. As a result of the new guidance, we will defer onto the balance sheet those up-front costs of cloud computing arrangements if they would have been capitalized in a similar on-premise software solution. The new standard did not have a material impact on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

Accounting pronouncements that will be effective after fiscal 2019

In February 2016, the FASB issued a comprehensive new leasing standard that will require lessees to recognize a lease liability and a right-of-use asset for all leases, including operating leases, with a term greater than 12 months on its balance sheet. The new standard will be effective for us beginning on October 1, 2019. The new leasing standard requires modified retrospective transition, which requires application of the new guidance at the beginning of the earliest comparative period presented in the year of adoption. In January 2018, the FASB issued a practical expedient to allow entities to not evaluate existing or expired land easements that were not previously accounted for as leases under the current guidance. In July 2018, the FASB issued a practical expedient providing an additional and optional transition method to adopt the standard at the adoption date and recognize a cumulative-effect adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings in the period of adoption. We are currently evaluating the effect of this standard and amendments on our financial position, results of operations, cash flows and business processes.

In June 2016, the FASB issued new guidance which will require credit losses on most financial assets measured at amortized cost and certain other instruments to be measured using an expected credit loss model. Under this model, entities will estimate credit losses over the entire contractual term of the instrument from the date of initial recognition of that instrument. In contrast, current U.S. GAAP is based on an incurred loss model that delays recognition of credit losses until it is probable the loss has been incurred. The new guidance also introduces a new impairment recognition model for available-for-sale debt securities that will require credit losses for available-for-sale debt securities to be recorded through an allowance account. The new standard will be effective for us beginning on October 1, 2021; early adoption is permitted. We are currently evaluating the potential impact of this new guidance on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

In August 2018, the FASB issued new guidance that modifies the disclosure requirements for employers that sponsor defined benefit pension or other postretirement plans. The guidance removes the disclosure requirements for the amounts of gain/loss and prior service cost/credit amortization expected in the following year and the disclosure of the effect of a one-percentage-point change in the health care cost trend rate, among other changes. The guidance adds certain disclosures including the weighted average interest crediting rate for cash balance plans and a narrative description for the significant change in gains and losses as well as any other significant change in the plan obligations or assets. The new guidance is effective for us in the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2020 and should be applied on a retrospective basis to all periods presented. Early adoption is permitted. The adoption of this new guidance impacts only our disclosures; however we are still evaluating the timing of our adoption.

Regulatory assets and liabilities

Accounting principles generally accepted in the United States require cost-based, rate-regulated entities that meet certain criteria to reflect the authorized recovery of costs due to regulatory decisions in their financial statements. As a result, certain costs are permitted to be capitalized rather than expensed because they can be recovered through rates. We record certain costs as regulatory assets when future recovery through customer rates is considered probable. Regulatory liabilities are recorded when it is probable that revenues will be reduced for amounts that will be credited to customers through the ratemaking process. Substantially all of our regulatory assets are recorded as a component of deferred charges and other assets and our regulatory liabilities are recorded as a component of other current liabilities and deferred credits and other liabilities. Deferred gas costs are recorded either in other current assets or liabilities and our regulatory excess deferred taxes and regulatory cost of removal obligation are reported separately.

Significant regulatory assets and liabilities as of December 31, 2018 and September 30, 2018 included the following:



	December 31, 2018		September 30, 2018
	(In thousands)
Regulatory assets:
Pension and postretirement benefit costs	$	7,188	$	6,496
Infrastructure mechanisms⁽¹⁾	85,071		96,739
Deferred gas costs	11,621		1,927
Recoverable loss on reacquired debt	8,076		8,702
Deferred pipeline record collection costs	22,122		20,467
Rate case costs	1,866		2,741
Other	6,422		6,739
	$	142,366	$	143,811
Regulatory liabilities:
Regulatory excess deferred taxes⁽²⁾	$	740,896	$	744,895
Regulatory cost of service reserve⁽³⁾	19,281		22,508
Regulatory cost of removal obligation	523,644		522,175
Deferred gas costs	85,820		94,705
Asset retirement obligation	12,887		12,887
APT annual adjustment mechanism	44,619		35,228
Pension and postretirement benefit costs	70,969		69,113
Other	14,354		9,486
	$	1,512,470	$	1,510,997


(1)	Infrastructure mechanisms in Texas and Louisiana allow for the deferral of all eligible expenses associated with capital expenditures incurred pursuant to these rules, including the recording of interest on deferred expenses until the next rate proceeding (rate case or annual rate filing), at which time investment and costs would be recoverable through base rates.


(2)	The TCJA resulted in the remeasurement of the net deferred tax liability included in our rate base. Of this amount, $23.1 million is recorded in other current liabilities. The period and timing of the return of the excess deferred taxes is being determined by regulators in each of our jurisdictions. See Note 13 for further information.

(3)

Effective January 1, 2018, regulators in each of our service areas required us to establish a regulatory liability for the difference in recoverable federal taxes included in revenues based on the former 35% federal statutory rate and the new 21% federal statutory rate for service provided on or after January 1, 2018. The period and timing of the return of this liability to utility customers is being determined by regulators in each of our jurisdictions. See Note 13 for further information.