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COPYRIGHT 2002 PR Newswire Association LLC
NEW ORLEANS -- Entergy Corporation today announced that earnings for the year 2001 were $3.23 per share, or $726.2 million, compared with $2.97, or $679.3 million, in 2000. On an operational basis, 2001 earnings were $3.23 compared to $3.12 for the year 2000. Earnings for the year 2001 broke the record for annual earnings set by the company just one year ago.
While fourth quarter 2001 earnings were down from the same period of 2000, primarily as a result of mild weather, Entergy's earnings marked the 15th consecutive quarter in which the company exceeded the consensus estimate of financial analysts. Entergy's fourth quarter 2001 consolidated earnings were 9 cents per share, compared with 19 cents per share in fourth quarter 2000.
On an operational basis, Entergy's fourth quarter 2001 earnings were $39.8 million, or 18 cents per share, compared with $70.9 million, or 31 cents per share, in the year-earlier period. Extremely cold weather in fourth quarter 2000 accounted for 14 cents of the earnings per share for that period. When results for both periods are adjusted for changes in weather, fourth quarter 2001 results were 18 percent higher than one year ago. The 18 percent increase in weather-adjusted operational earnings was driven by solid results at the utility, as well as the non-utility nuclear business, Entergy Nuclear, which is not subject to state and local regulation.
"Difficult economic conditions, weak commodity prices and some of the mildest weather in over 100 years did not deter us from achieving outstanding results in 2001," said J. Wayne Leonard, Entergy's chief executive officer. "We continue to create value for all of our stakeholders through our conservative integrated strategy combined with operational excellence and financial strength."
Leonard highlighted achievements in each of the company's three businesses:
* "The utility delivered solid earnings without help from the weather by achieving operating efficiencies, while continuing to improve on measures of safety, reliability and customer service. * The nuclear business continued to grow, with the acquisition of Indian Point 2 and an agreement to acquire Vermont Yankee. We completed scheduled refueling outages at several units in record time. * The Energy Commodity Services business, which includes Entergy-Koch and Entergy Wholesale Operations, delivered good results in both the trading and pipeline operations even though forces in the market pressured prices and margins." Utility Operations
In fourth quarter 2001, utility earnings on an operational basis were $44.5 million, or 20 cents per share, equal to the 20 cents per share earned in the same period of 2000. Mild weather in...
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