Company Website: http://www.pepcoholdings.com/about/
WASHINGTON -- (Business Wire)

Pepco Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: POM) today reported first quarter 2012 earnings from continuing operations as follows:

“Our earnings from continuing operations reflect our investment in utility infrastructure, as well as the positive impacts of tax adjustments which more than mitigated the effects of the mild winter weather we experienced in our service area,” said Joseph M. Rigby, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. “During the quarter, we continued to make progress on a number of important Power Delivery initiatives. The investments made to improve service reliability are on track and we continue to see positive trends in the operating performance of our electric system. Our Blueprint for the Future initiatives are moving forward as planned, with smart meter installations completed in Delaware and continuing in the District of Columbia and Maryland.” Rigby added, “For the remainder of 2012, we will remain focused on improving reliability and customer satisfaction, and continue to aggressively pursue constructive regulatory outcomes and frameworks that allow us to earn our authorized rates of return on our investments.”

The increase in adjusted net income from continuing operations (Non-GAAP) in the first quarter of 2012, as compared to the 2011 quarter, was primarily the result of the favorable impact of income tax adjustments, and higher transmission and distribution revenue due to higher rates driven by increased investment. Partially offsetting these positive factors was lower distribution revenue due to lower electric distribution sales in our service territories that do not have revenue decoupled from sales, primarily from the effect of milder than normal winter weather.

Non-GAAP Financial Information

Management believes the adjusted net income from continuing operations and related per share data 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 accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (GAAP).

Reconciliation of GAAP Financial Information to Adjusted Financial Information

The income tax effect with respect to the foregoing adjustment was calculated using a composite income tax rate of approximately 40%.

Earnings Guidance

Pepco Holdings today reaffirmed its earnings guidance range for 2012 of between $1.15 and $1.30 per share. The guidance range:

• excludes the results of discontinued operations and the impact of any special, unusual or extraordinary items,
• assumes normal weather conditions, and
• excludes the after-tax net mark-to-market effects of economic hedging activities associated with the retail energy supply business of Pepco Energy Services.

Recent Events

Operations

• Power Delivery electric sales were 11,344 gigawatt hours (GWh) in the first quarter of 2012, compared to 12,148 GWh for the first quarter of 2011. In the electric service territory, heating degree days were lower by 26 percent, compared to the same period in 2011. Weather adjusted electric sales were 12,003 GWh in the first quarter of 2012, compared to 12,114 GWh for first quarter of 2011.
• As of March 31, 2012, Delmarva Power’s installation and activation of smart meters in its Delaware electric service territory was complete and Pepco had installed approximately 95 percent of its smart meters in its District of Columbia service territory (47 percent activated) and 23 percent of its smart meters in its Maryland service territory (1 percent activated). The respective Public Service Commissions have approved the creation of a regulatory asset to defer Advanced Metering Infrastructure costs between rate cases, as well as the accrual of a return on the deferred costs.
• Pepco Energy Services signed $173 million of energy services contracts in the first quarter of 2012, including a $171 million contract with DC Water to design, build and operate a combined heat and power plant at DC Water’s Blue Plains advanced wastewater treatment plant.

Financing

• On April 4, 2012, Pepco issued $200 million of first mortgage bonds. The bonds bear interest at an annual fixed rate of 3.05 percent and are due April 1, 2022. The proceeds from the sale of the bonds were used to redeem all $38.3 million outstanding of 5.375 percent tax exempt bonds due 2024, to repay Pepco commercial paper which was issued to temporarily fund capital expenditures and working capital, and for general corporate purposes.
• On March 5, 2012, Pepco Holdings entered into an equity forward transaction in connection with the public offering of 17.92 million shares of common stock at $19.25 per share; the equity forward transaction must be settled on or before March 5, 2013. The use of an equity forward transaction substantially eliminates future equity market price risk by fixing a common equity offering sales price under the then existing market conditions while mitigating immediate share dilution resulting from the offering by postponing the actual issuance of common stock until funds are needed in accordance with the capital investment and regulatory plans.

Further details regarding changes in consolidated earnings between 2012 and 2011 can be found in the following schedules. Additional information regarding financial results and recent regulatory events can be found in the Pepco Holdings, Inc. Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2012 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and which is also available at www.pepcoholdings.com/investors.

Conference Call for Investors

Pepco Holdings, Inc. will host a conference call to discuss first quarter results on Friday, May 4 at 11 a.m. E.T. Investors, members of the media and other interested persons may access the conference call on the Internet at http://www.pepcoholdings.com/investors or by calling 1-800-638-4930 before 10:55 a.m. The pass code for the call is 98364747. International callers may access the call by dialing 1-617-614-3944, using the same pass code 98364747. An on-demand replay will be available for seven days following the call. To hear the replay, dial 1-888-286-8010 and enter pass code 75089656. International callers may access the replay by dialing 1-617-801-6888 and entering the same pass code 75089656. An audio archive will be available at PHI's website, http://www.pepcoholdings.com/investors.

Note: If any non-GAAP financial information (as defined by the Securities and Exchange Commission in Regulation G) is used during the quarterly earnings conference call, a presentation of the most directly comparable GAAP measure and a reconciliation of the differences will be available at http://www.pepcoholdings.com/investors promptly after the conclusion of the conference call.

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. PHI also provides energy efficiency and renewable energy services through Pepco Energy Services.

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 and by 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, as amended, filed in 2012, and quarterly reports filed in 2012, 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 forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements speak only as to the date this news release was issued, and each Reporting Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after such date 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, nor can the impact of any such factor be assessed 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 its 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. The factors described above should not be construed as exhaustive.

SEGMENT INFORMATION

Contacts:

Pepco Holdings, Inc.
Media Contact:
Robert Hainey, 202-872-2680
or
Investor Contact:
Donna Kinzel, 302-429-3004

Source: Pepco Holdings, Inc.