WASHINGTON -- (Business Wire)

Pepco Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: POM) today reported third quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2014 earnings from continuing operations as follows:

“Our third quarter results and reliability metrics continue to reflect the positive impact of our investments in the electric system across our jurisdictions. Over the next five years, we expect to spend $6.6 billion on additional investments to further improve reliability and customer service which will include replacing aging infrastructure and installing advanced technologies,” said Joseph M. Rigby, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. “We look forward to continued progress on our strategic goals of system reliability and customer satisfaction as we move forward with our pending merger with Exelon.” Rigby added, “Important milestones were reached when our shareholders voted to approve the proposed transaction in the third quarter, and the Virginia State Corporation Commission provided its approval of the merger on October 7. Work continues with Exelon on obtaining the remaining regulatory approvals.”

Pepco Holdings’ GAAP net income from continuing operations for the three months ended September 30, 2014 was $79 million, or 31 cents per share, as compared to $110 million or 44 cents per share, for the same quarter in the prior year. Excluding items that we believe are not representative of ongoing business operations, adjusted net income from continuing operations for the third quarter of 2014 would have been $116 million, or 46 cents per share. There were no adjustments to GAAP earnings in the third quarter of 2013.

The increase in adjusted net income from continuing operations (Non-GAAP) in the third quarter of 2014, as compared to the 2013 third quarter, was driven by higher electric distribution revenue (primarily due to higher rates from increased infrastructure investment) and benefits received from tax deductions associated with Pepco Energy Services energy efficiency projects. Partially offsetting these positive factors were higher operation and maintenance expense and higher depreciation expense.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2014, Pepco Holdings’ GAAP net income from continuing operations was $207 million, or 82 cents per share, as compared to $52 million, or 21 cents per share, for the nine months ended September 30, 2013. Excluding items that we believe are not representative of ongoing business operations, adjusted net income from continuing operations for the nine months ended September 30, 2014 would have been $262 million, or $1.04 per share, as compared to $219 million, or 90 cents per share, for the same period in the prior year.

The primary drivers of the increase in adjusted net income from continuing operations (Non-GAAP) for the nine months ended September 30, 2014, as compared to the 2013 period, were higher electric distribution and transmission revenue (primarily due to higher rates from increased infrastructure investment), partially offset by higher depreciation expense and lower income tax benefits (due to a favorable income tax adjustment in 2013).

Non-GAAP Financial Information

Management believes the adjusted net income from continuing operations and related per share data (both as historical financial information and earnings guidance) are representative of Pepco Holdings’ ongoing business operations. Management uses this information internally to evaluate Pepco Holdings’ period-over-period financial performance and, therefore, believes that this information is useful to investors. The presentation of adjusted net income from continuing operations and related per share data is intended to complement, and should not be considered as an alternative to, reported earnings and related per share data presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (GAAP).

Reconciliation of GAAP Financial Information to Adjusted Financial Information

The income tax effects with respect to the foregoing adjustments, where applicable, were calculated using composite income tax rates of 35 to 41 percent. Most merger-related costs are not tax deductible.

Discontinued Operations

Due to the early termination of Pepco Holdings’ cross-border energy lease investments during 2013, these investments are accounted for as discontinued operations and are no longer reported as a separate segment for financial reporting purposes.

In 2013, Pepco Energy Services completed a previously announced wind-down of its retail energy supply component. As a result, the operations of PES’ retail electric and natural gas supply businesses are accounted for as discontinued operations and are no longer a part of the PES segment for financial reporting purposes.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2014 there was no activity in discontinued operations, compared to a net loss of $1.31 per share for the same period in 2013.

Earnings Guidance

Pepco Holdings today narrowed its earnings guidance range for 2014 to between $1.17 and $1.27 from $1.12 and $1.27 per share. The guidance range assumes normal weather conditions and excludes:

• the results of discontinued operations and the impact of any special, unusual or extraordinary items,
• the effect of adopting new accounting standards,
• the effect of changes in tax law,
• the impairment of assets, and
• the incremental transaction and integration costs associated with the planned merger with Exelon.

Recent Events

Pepco Holdings – Exelon Merger

On September 23, 2014, the stockholders of Pepco Holdings approved the planned merger with Exelon Corporation announced earlier this year. On October 7, 2014, merger approval was received from the Virginia State Corporation Commission. Approval applications related to the merger are pending with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Delaware Public Service Commission, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU), the District of Columbia Public Service Commission (DCPSC) and the Maryland Public Service Commission. The Hart-Scott-Rodino notification was filed in the third quarter of 2014 and in October 2014 Exelon and Pepco Holdings received a request for additional information from the Department of Justice. Following receipt of the required approvals, the parties anticipate closing the transaction in the second or third quarter of 2015.

Operations

• Power Delivery electric sales were 12,780 gigawatt hours (GWh) in the third quarter of 2014, compared to 13,335 GWh for the same period in 2013. In the electric service territory, cooling degree days decreased by 4 percent for the three months ended September 30, 2014, compared to the same period in 2013. Weather-adjusted electric sales were 12,984 GWh in the third quarter of 2014, compared to 13,439 GWh for the same period in the prior year.
• Power Delivery electric sales were 36,219 GWh for the nine months ended September 30, 2014 compared to 36,412 GWh for the nine months ended September 30, 2013. In the electric service territory, cooling degree days decreased by 4 percent and heating degree days increased by 9 percent for the nine months ended September 30, 2014 compared to the same period in 2013. Weather-adjusted electric sales were 35,929 GWh for the nine months ended September 30, 2014 compared to 36,464 GWh for the same period in 2013.
• As of September 30, 2014, Pepco’s and Delmarva Power’s installation and activation of smart meters in their District of Columbia, Maryland and Delaware service territories are complete. Recovery of smart meter costs in electric distribution base rates has begun in the District of Columbia and Delaware. Regulatory assets associated with smart meter installation and activation in Maryland have been created.
• A Peak Energy Savings program initially launched in June 2013 was continued in the Pepco Maryland and Delmarva Power Delaware service areas in 2014. A phase-in of approximately five thousand customers was conducted in the Delmarva Power Maryland service area in 2014. Three events were conducted in Pepco Maryland and two events were held in both the Delmarva Power Delaware and Maryland jurisdictions. During the events, the participating customers earned approximately $5 million in bill credits while reducing electric usage an estimated three million kilowatt hours.
• In October 2014, Power Delivery updated its forecast of capital expenditures through 2019. Total Power Delivery capital expenditures for the five year period are forecast to be $6.6 billion, with $4.6 billion planned for distribution capital expenditures and $2 billion planned for transmission capital expenditures.
• At September 30, 2014, PES recorded an impairment loss of $53 million ($32 million after-tax) associated with its combined heat and power thermal generating plant and operation in Atlantic City as a result of significant adverse changes in the financial condition of its customers and the business climate. The impairment reduced the carrying amount of PES' long-lived assets in Atlantic City from $83 million to $30 million.
• During the nine months ended September 30, 2014, PES signed $33 million in energy efficiency contracts and $53 million in underground transmission construction contracts. PES signed $38 million in energy efficiency contracts and $41 million in underground transmission construction contracts for the same period in 2013.

Regulatory Matters

• On October 22, 2014, the NJBPU issued an order continuing the Consolidated Tax Adjustment (CTA) policy for affected consolidated groups in utility base rate case filings. The calculation will be modified to limit the look-back period to five years, exclude transmission assets and limit the impact to the distribution revenue requirement to 25 percent of the final CTA amount. The revised methodology will significantly reduce the effects of the CTA in future electric distribution base rate cases filed by Atlantic City Electric.
• On August 20, 2014, the NJBPU approved a settlement agreement signed by the parties to Atlantic City Electric’s electric distribution base rate case. The settlement provides for an annual increase in electric distribution base rates by the net amount of $19 million, based on a 9.75 percent return on equity. The new rates were effective September 1, 2014.
• On August 1, 2014, Pepco and the District of Columbia Department of Transportation jointly filed an application with the DCPSC for approval of the financing order and related surcharge for the District of Columbia power line undergrounding project. The order would authorize the District to issue up to $375 million of bonds to fund the majority of its portion of the underground project and would establish a surcharge that will repay the cost of the bonds. The legislation for the public-private partnership to underground up to 60 high-voltage lines became law on May 3, 2014. The DCPSC is expected to approve the triennial plan (filed in June 2014), and the financing and surcharge applications associated with the legislation in the fourth quarter of 2014.

Financing

• On August 25, 2014, Atlantic City Electric issued $150 million of 10-year first mortgage bonds. The bonds bear interest at a fixed rate of 3.375 percent and are due on September 1, 2024. The net proceeds were used to repay maturing secured medium term notes, outstanding commercial paper (including commercial paper used to repay Atlantic City Electric’s $100 million term loan on August 21, 2014) and for general corporate purposes.

Further details regarding changes in consolidated earnings between 2014 and 2013 are provided in the schedules that follow. Additional information regarding financial results and recent regulatory events can be found in the Pepco Holdings, Inc. Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2014, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and which is also available at www.pepcoholdings.com/investors. Pepco Holdings, Inc. routinely makes available this and other important information on its website, which is a key channel of distribution for Pepco Holdings, Inc. to reach its public investors and to disclose material, non-public information. Information on the website is not part of this news release.

About PHI: Pepco Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: POM) is one of the largest energy delivery companies in the Mid-Atlantic region, serving about 2 million customers in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland and New Jersey. PHI subsidiaries Pepco, Delmarva Power and Atlantic City Electric provide regulated electricity service; Delmarva Power also provides natural gas service. Through Pepco Energy Services, PHI also provides energy savings performance contracting services, underground transmission and distribution construction and maintenance services, and steam and chilled water under long-term contracts.

Forward-Looking Statements: Some of the statements contained in this news release with respect to Pepco Holdings, Pepco, Delmarva Power and Atlantic City Electric, including each of their respective subsidiaries (each, a “Reporting Company”), are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws, and are subject to the safe harbor created thereby under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “might,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “expects,” “intends,” “assumes,” “seeks to,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “projects,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential,” “future,” “goal,” “objective,” or “continue” or the negative of such terms or other variations thereof or comparable terminology, or by discussions of strategy that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements involve estimates, assumptions, known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause one or more Reporting Company’s or their subsidiaries’ actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Therefore, forward-looking statements are not guarantees or assurances of future performance, and actual results could differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements. These factors should be read together with the risk factors included in the “Risk Factors” section and other statements contained in each Reporting Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 28, 2014, and in each Reporting Company’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2014, and investors should refer to these risk factor sections and other statements. All of such factors and forward-looking statements are difficult to predict, contain uncertainties, are beyond each Reporting Company’s control and may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements speak only as to the date this news release was issued, and none of the Reporting Companies undertakes any obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for a Reporting Company to predict all such factors. Furthermore, it may not be possible to assess the impact of any such factor on such Reporting Company’s or its subsidiaries’ business (viewed independently or together with the business or businesses of some or all of the other Reporting Companies or their subsidiaries) or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Any specific factors that may be provided should not be construed as exhaustive.

SEGMENT INFORMATION

SEGMENT INFORMATION – continued

Notes: Forecast is based on expected plant closings associated with the construction expenditure forecast, current depreciation rates and expected deferred tax benefits at current statutory tax rates. A=actual

* Impairment loss of $53 million ($32 million after-tax) associated with the combined heat and power thermal generating plant and operation in Atlantic City.

* Impairment loss of $53 million ($32 million after-tax) associated with the combined heat and power thermal generating plant and operation in Atlantic City.

Contacts:

Pepco Holdings, Inc.
Media Contact:
Robert Hainey, 202-872-2680
24/7 Media Hotline 202-872-2680
rshainey@pepcoholdings.com
or
Investor Contact:
Donna Kinzel, 302-429-3004
donna.kinzel@pepcoholdings.com

Source: Pepco Holdings, Inc.