PPL Chairman: Transformed PPL Better Positioned Than Ever to Deliver Strong Returns, Dividends

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May 18, 2011, 01:47 ET

ALLENTOWN, Pa., May 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The transformed PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL), with an improved foundation of growing regulated businesses, is better positioned than ever to deliver strong returns and dividends, the company's top executive told shareowners Wednesday (5/18) at PPL's annual meeting.

"As a result of our acquisition of two high-quality, growing regulated businesses, PPL is now a significantly larger, more financially robust company," said James H. Miller, chairman, president and chief executive officer of PPL. "And, importantly, we have significantly reduced the portion of PPL's earnings and cash flows that are subject to the ups and downs of commodity market prices."

Miller said the company's regulated businesses all have strong prospects for growing rate base and earnings well into the future.

Also, he told shareowners, the company improved its business risk profile without sacrificing one of its traditional strengths. "In this transformation, we have retained the upside potential in our competitive supply business when wholesale electricity markets recover," he said.

"Our new structure strengthens our business risk profile, and it provides a more predictable stream of earnings and cash flow," said Miller. "It also improves our flexibility to increase our dividend as we move forward."

For 2010, PPL's earnings from ongoing operations were $3.13 per share, compared with $1.95 per share for 2009, significantly exceeding the company's 2010 forecast. Over the course of 2010 and early 2011, PPL completed two major acquisitions. The first was Louisville Gas and Electric Company and Kentucky Utilities Company, and the second was the former Central Networks electricity distribution businesses in central England.

During Wednesday's meeting, Miller acknowledged the service of E. Allen Deaver, a PPL director since 1991, who retired from the board effective with Wednesday's meeting. Deaver, former executive vice president and director of Armstrong World Industries, Inc., chaired the board's Compensation, Governance and Nominating Committee and was a member of the Executive, Finance and Nuclear Oversight committees.

At the meeting, shareowners re-elected all PPL directors to one-year terms: Frederick M. Bernthal, former president, Universities Research Association; John W. Conway, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Crown Holdings, Inc.; Steven G. Elliott, former senior vice chairman of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation; Louise K. Goeser, president and chief executive officer, Grupo Siemens S.A. de C.V.; Stuart E. Graham, vice chairman of Skanska AB; Stuart Heydt, former chief executive officer of Geisinger Health System; PPL Chairman Miller; Craig A. Rogerson, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Chemtura Corporation; Natica von Althann, founding partner of C&A Advisors; and Keith H. Williamson, senior vice president, secretary and general counsel of Centene Corporation.

Shareowners also voted on five proposals during the meeting: approved an annual cash incentive compensation plan; approved the 2010 compensation of PPL's executive officers named in this year's proxy statement; selected "1 Year" as to how often shareowners should vote to approve the compensation of PPL's executive officers; rejected a shareowner proposal that requested the board to amend PPL's governance documents to eliminate plurality voting for directors and provide for directors to be elected by a majority of votes cast at an annual meeting of shareowners; and rejected a shareowner proposal that requested that the board amend its governing documents to give shareowners holding 10 percent of outstanding PPL common stock authority to call a special shareowner meeting.

During the meeting, shareowners also ratified the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as the company's independent auditing firm for the year ending Dec. 31, 2011.

PPL Corporation, headquartered in Allentown, Pa., through its affiliates, owns or controls about 19,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the United States, sells energy in key U.S. markets, and delivers electricity and natural gas to about 10 million customers in the United States and the United Kingdom. More information is available at www.pplweb.com.

SOURCE PPL Corporation