ALLENTOWN, Pa.---PP&L Resources Inc., Wednesday (4/24) reported earnings of $2.13 per share of common stock for the 12-month period ended March 31, 1996, compared to $1.37 per share reported by the company in the same period the year before.

The earnings improvement was due principally to the reversal of a large portion of one-time charges against income that were recorded in the 12-month period ended March 31, 1995. Adjustments affecting earnings were in three main categories: employment reductions, the sale of coal reserves and items related to the 1995 base rate case decision.

Sales to service-area customers increased 5.1 percent during the period, due in part to extreme weather last summer and this past winter. "We're encouraged by the overall increase in our sales," said Ronald E. Hill, senior vice president-Financial. "Even after we take away the effects of extreme weather, our sales grew by an adjusted rate of 1.9 percent."

Hill noted that a key element of the strategy that is increasing shareowner value is to sustain an approximate 2 percent growth rate in sales. Other elements include reducing operating and maintenance expenses by $50 million to $60 million and eliminating $671 million in previously planned construction projects over the next five years.

Looking ahead, Hill noted that the 3.8 percent base rate increase granted by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission in September 1995 "will have a positive effect on revenues."

For the 12 months just ended, if the effects of the one-time adjustments and weather were removed, the company would have had earnings of $1.79 per share for the 12 months ended March 31, 1996, compared to $1.96 per share in the year-earlier period.

Major impacts on earnings during the period included higher depreciation expense and a reduction in bulk power sales to a major utility. Under PP&L's contract with Jersey Central Power & Light, the amount of bulk power sold by PP&L to JCP&L will continue to decline over the next four years. PP&L has increased its efforts to sell this energy and capacity on the open market.

In the first quarter of 1996, PP&L Resources reported earnings of $116.3 million, or 73 cents per share, compared to earnings of $101.3 million, or 65 cents per share, in the first quarter of 1995.

PP&L Resources Inc., based in Allentown, Pa., is the parent company of Pennsylvania Power & Light Co., Power Markets Development Co. and Spectrum Energy Services Corp.