Ameren (NYSE: AEE) Announces First Quarter 2013 Results

ST. LOUIS, May 2, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Ameren Corporation (NYSE: AEE) today announced first quarter 2013 net income from continuing operations of $54 million, or 22 cents per share, compared to first quarter 2012 net income from continuing operations of $37 million, or 15 cents per share. With the March 2013 announcement of a definitive agreement to divest its merchant generation business to an affiliate of Dynegy Inc. (NYSE:DYN), Ameren has classified the results of this business as held for sale and as discontinued operations in its first quarter 2013 financial statements.

The increase in first quarter 2013 earnings from continuing operations, compared to first quarter 2012, reflected improved earnings from Ameren Missouri and Ameren Illinois. Colder winter temperatures, which drove higher electric and natural gas sales volumes; new rates for Ameren Missouri electric and Ameren Illinois transmission service, both effective in January 2013; and the absence in 2013 of a required donation associated with the implementation of formula rates in Illinois all benefited 2013 earnings comparisons. These favorable factors were partially offset by a reduction in Ameren Illinois electric delivery service revenues as a result of variation in the timing and amount of expected full-year recoverable costs under formula ratemaking and by higher Ameren Missouri non-fuel operations and maintenance expenses.

"First quarter earnings from our rate-regulated utilities were in line with our expectations reflecting colder    winter temperatures and continued disciplined cost management," said Thomas R. Voss, chairman, president and CEO of Ameren Corporation. "Today, we are also establishing 2013 earnings guidance for continuing operations in the range of $2.00 to $2.20 per share. The presentation of guidance on a continuing operations basis reflects classification of the merchant generation business as discontinued operations in the first quarter.

"So far this year we have made significant progress on several fronts, including an agreement to divest our merchant generation business, positioning us to focus exclusively on our rate-regulated operations," Voss said. "Furthermore, we have continued to deliver solid operating performance and advanced plans to increase our investment in jurisdictions with modern, constructive regulatory frameworks for the benefit of our customers, communities and investors."

2013 Earnings Guidance
Ameren expects 2013 earnings from continuing operations to be in the range of $2.00 to $2.20 per share. This guidance incorporates approximately 20 cents per share of parent company and other costs, including certain costs which were previously allocated to the merchant generation business. Ameren's 2013 earnings guidance for continuing operations assumes normal temperatures for the remaining nine months of the year. In addition, this guidance is subject to the effects of, among other things, completion of Ameren's announced divestiture of the merchant generation business; the sale of the Elgin, Gibson City, and Grand Tower gas-fired energy centers; regulatory decisions and legislative actions; energy center operations; energy, economic, capital and credit market conditions; severe storms; unusual or otherwise unexpected gains or losses; and other risks and uncertainties outlined, or referred to, in the Forward-looking Statements section of this press release.

Ameren Missouri Segment Results
Ameren Missouri segment first quarter 2013 earnings were $40 million, compared to first quarter 2012 earnings of $21 million. The increase in earnings reflected higher electric and natural gas sales volumes primarily due to normal first quarter 2013 winter temperatures, compared to much warmer-than-normal first quarter 2012 temperatures. First quarter earnings rose approximately $17 million due to colder temperatures. Earnings also benefited from new electric service rates effective in January 2013. These favorable factors were partially offset by higher non-fuel operations and maintenance expenses.

Ameren Illinois Segment Results
Ameren Illinois segment first quarter 2013 earnings were $31 million, compared to first quarter 2012 earnings of $27 million. The increase in earnings reflected higher electric and natural gas sales volumes due to normal first quarter 2013 winter temperatures, compared to much warmer-than-normal first quarter 2012 temperatures. First quarter earnings rose approximately $8 million due to colder temperatures. Earnings also benefited from new rates for electric transmission and the absence in 2013 of a required donation associated with the implementation of formula rates in Illinois. These favorable factors were partially offset by a reduction in electric delivery service revenues as a result of variation in the timing and amount of expected full-year recoverable costs under formula ratemaking.

Parent Company and Other
Parent company and other costs reduced Ameren's earnings from continuing operations by $17 million in the first quarter of 2013, compared to a reduction of $11 million in the first quarter 2012. These parent company and other costs include interest expense and certain other costs which were previously allocated to the merchant generation business, as well as other costs historically not allocated to Ameren's business segments.

Discontinued Operations
Ameren's net loss from discontinued operations was $199 million, or 82 cents per share, in the first quarter of 2013, compared to a net loss from discontinued operations of $440 million, or $1.81 per share, in the first quarter of 2012. The net loss from discontinued operations was reduced in the first quarter of 2013, compared to the same period in 2012, primarily as a result of lower after tax asset impairment charges. In addition, the merchant generation business had lower non-fuel operations and maintenance expenses in the first quarter of 2013, compared to the first quarter of 2012. These favorable factors were partially offset by lower realized sales prices. 

For the first quarter of 2013, Ameren incurred a net loss of $145 million, or 60 cents per share, compared to a net loss of $403 million, or $1.66 per share, for the first quarter of 2012. A reconciliation of Ameren's earnings per share from continuing operations to net loss per share is as follows:

Analyst Conference Call
Ameren will conduct a conference call for financial analysts at 9 a.m. Central Time on Thursday, May 2, to discuss first quarter 2013 earnings, 2013 guidance and other matters. Investors, the news media and the public may listen to a live Internet broadcast of the call at Ameren.com by clicking on "Q1 2013 Ameren Corporation Earnings Conference Call," followed by the appropriate audio link. An accompanying slide presentation will be available on Ameren's website. This presentation will be posted in the "Investors" section of the website under "Webcasts & Presentations." The analyst call will also be available for replay on the Internet for one year. In addition, a telephone playback of the conference call will be available beginning at approximately noon Central Time from May 2 through May 9, by dialing U.S. 877.660.6853 or international 201.612.7415, and entering ID number 412951.

About Ameren
St. Louis-based Ameren Corporation serves 2.4 million electric customers and more than 900,000 natural gas customers in a 64,000-square-mile area through our Ameren Missouri and Ameren Illinois rate-regulated utility subsidiaries. Ameren Illinois provides electric and natural gas delivery service while Ameren Missouri provides vertically integrated electric service, with generating capacity of 10,300 megawatts, and natural gas delivery service. Ameren Transmission develops regional electric transmission projects. In March 2013, we entered into a definitive agreement to divest our Illinois-based merchant generation business. For more information, visit Ameren.com.            

Forward-looking Statements
Statements in this release not based on historical facts are considered "forward-looking" and, accordingly, involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed. Although such forward-looking statements have been made in good faith and are based on reasonable assumptions, there is no assurance that the expected results will be achieved. These statements include (without limitation) statements as to future expectations, beliefs, plans, strategies, objectives, events, conditions, and financial performance. In connection with the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, we are providing this cautionary statement to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. The following factors, in addition to those discussed under Risk Factors in Ameren's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012, and elsewhere in this release and in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, could cause actual results to differ materially from management expectations suggested in such forward-looking statements:

• completion of Ameren's announced divestiture of the merchant generation business and the sale of the Elgin, Gibson City, and Grand Tower gas-fired energy centers;
• Ameren's exit from the merchant generation business, which could result in additional impairments of long-lived assets, disposal-related losses, contingencies, reduction of existing deferred tax assets, or could have other adverse impacts on the financial condition, results of operations and liquidity of Ameren;
• regulatory approvals, including from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the Federal Communications Commission, and the Illinois Pollution Control Board relating to, and the satisfaction or waiver of the conditions to, the divestiture of the merchant generation business;
• regulatory, judicial, or legislative actions, including changes in regulatory policies and ratemaking determinations, such as the outcome of Ameren Illinois' natural gas rate case filed in 2013; the court appeals of Ameren Missouri's and Ameren Illinois' electric rate orders issued in 2012; Ameren Missouri's fuel adjustment clause prudence review and the related request for an accounting authority order; Ameren Illinois' request for rehearing of a July 2012 FERC order regarding the inclusion of acquisition premiums in Ameren Illinois transmission rates; and future regulatory, judicial, or legislative actions that seek to change regulatory recovery mechanisms;
• the effect of Ameren Illinois participating in a performance-based formula ratemaking process under the Illinois Energy Infrastructure Modernization Act (IEIMA), the related financial commitments required by the IEIMA and the resulting uncertain impact on the financial condition, results of operations and liquidity of Ameren Illinois;
• the effects of, or changes to, the Illinois power procurement process;
• changes in laws and other governmental actions, including monetary, fiscal, and tax policies, including such changes that result in our being unable to claim all or a portion of the cash tax benefits that are expected to result from the divestiture of the merchant generation business;
• changes in laws or regulations that adversely affect the ability of electric distribution companies and other purchasers of wholesale electricity to pay their suppliers, including Ameren Missouri and Ameren Energy Marketing Company;
• the effects of increased competition in the future due to, among other things, deregulation of certain aspects of our business at both the state and federal levels, and the implementation of deregulation;
• the effects on demand for our services resulting from technological advances, including advances in energy efficiency and distributed generation sources, which generate electricity at the site of consumption;
• increasing capital expenditure and operating expense requirements and our ability to recover these costs;
• the cost and availability of fuel such as coal, natural gas and enriched uranium used to produce electricity; the cost and availability of purchased power and natural gas for distribution; and the level and volatility of future market prices for such commodities, including the ability to recover the costs for such commodities;
• the effectiveness of our risk management strategies and the use of financial and derivative instruments;
• the level and volatility of future prices for power in the Midwest, which may have a significant effect on the financial condition of Ameren's merchant generation segment;
• business and economic conditions, including their impact on interest rates, bad debt expense, and demand for our products;
• disruptions of the capital markets, deterioration in our credit metrics, or other events that make our access to necessary capital, including short-term credit and liquidity, impossible, more difficult, or more costly;
• our assessment of our liquidity, including liquidity concerns for Ameren's merchant generation business, and specifically for Ameren Energy Generating Company, whose ability to borrow additional funds from external third-party sources is restricted;
• the impact of the adoption of new accounting guidance and the application of appropriate technical accounting rules and guidance;
• actions of credit rating agencies and the effects of such actions;
• the impact of weather conditions and other natural phenomena on us and our customers, including the impacts of droughts which may cause lower river levels and could limit our energy centers' ability to generate power;
• the impact of system outages;
• generation, transmission, and distribution asset construction, installation, performance, and cost recovery;
• the effects of our increasing investment in electric transmission projects and uncertainty as to whether we will achieve our expected returns in a timely fashion, if at all;
• the extent to which Ameren Missouri prevails in its claims against insurers in connection with its Taum Sauk pumped-storage hydroelectric energy center incident;
• the extent to which Ameren Missouri is permitted by its regulators to recover in rates the investments it made in connection with additional nuclear generation at its Callaway Energy Center;
• operation of Ameren Missouri's Callaway Energy Center, including planned and unplanned outages, and decommissioning costs;
• the effects of strategic initiatives, including mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, including the divestiture of the merchant generation business, and any related tax implications;
• the impact of current environmental regulations on utilities and power generating companies and new, more stringent or changing requirements, including those related to greenhouse gases, other emissions and discharges, cooling water intake structures, coal combustion residuals, and energy efficiency, that are enacted over time and that could limit or terminate the operation of certain of our energy centers, increase our costs, result in an impairment of our assets, reduce our customers' demand for electricity or natural gas, or otherwise have a negative financial effect;
• the impact of complying with renewable energy portfolio requirements in Missouri;
• labor disputes, workforce reductions, future wage and employee benefits costs, including changes in discount rates and returns on benefit plan assets;
• the inability of our counterparties and affiliates to meet their obligations with respect to contracts, credit agreements, and financial instruments;
• the cost and availability of transmission capacity for the energy generated by Ameren's and Ameren Missouri's energy centers or required to satisfy energy sales made by Ameren or Ameren Missouri;
• legal and administrative proceedings; and
• acts of sabotage, war, terrorism, cybersecurity attacks or intentionally disruptive acts.

Given these uncertainties, undue reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking statements. Except to the extent required by the federal securities laws, we undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements to reflect new information or future events.     

SOURCE Ameren Corporation