DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
PPL Corp.'s (PPL) first-quarter net income fell 7.3% on the U.K.
pound's weakness against other currencies and lower wholesale
margins in the U.S.
Reduced power demand because of the recession and falling
electricity prices are forcing power providers to cut spending. In
February, PPL said it would cut 6% of its nonunion workers in the
U.S., although it also raised its quarterly dividend by a cent that
month.
PPL, a Pennsylvania-based seller of electricity with about 4
million customers in Pennsylvania and the U.K., posted net income
of $241 million, or 64 cents a share, from $260 million, or 69
cents a share, a year earlier.
Excluding items, including hedging impacts, earnings fell to 60
cents from 61 cents. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters
anticipated 46 cents.
Revenue jumped 55% to $2.36 billion.
Chairman and Chief Executive James Miller said PPL is seeing
benefits from cutting back its risks in the wholesale-energy
markets, where prices are more volatile and margins are susceptible
to changing fuel costs.
PPL's supply business saw a higher earnings on a debt-repurchase
gain, while the Pennsylvania delivery business reported a decline
on weakness in the natural-gas and
Shares of PPL, which again reiterated its 2009 and 2010 profit
targets, closed Thursday at $29.91 and was inactive premarket. The
stock has fallen by nearly 45% since July.
-By Joan E. Solsman and Kevin Kingsbury, Dow Jones Newswires;
201-938-5500; joan.solsman@dowjones.com