ALLENTOWN, Pa.---PP&L Resources, Inc., Wednesday (7/24) reported earnings of $2.22 per share of common stock for the 12-month period ended June 30, 1996, compared to $1.34 per share reported by the company in the same period the year before.

Non-recurring items were a significant factor contributing to the large increase in earnings. These non-recurring items were primarily related to the base rate decision issued by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission in September 1995 for Pennsylvania Power & Light Co., the electric utility subsidiary of PP&L Resources. Other non-recurring items included the sale of PP&L coal reserves in 1995 and the costs of work-force reductions at PP&L.

Increased energy sales during the colder-than-normal winter period, combined with the effects of the 3.8 percent base rate increase granted by the PUC and ongoing cost reduction initiatives, also contributed to the increase in earnings.

When the effects of the non-recurring items and the costs of work-force reductions are removed, earnings were $1.99 per share for the 12 months ended June 30, 1996, compared to $1.83 per share in the same period ended June 30, 1995.

Sales to PP&L's service-area customers increased 5.1 percent during the 12 months ended June 30, 1996, due primarily to the extreme weather. "We're encouraged by the continued trend of increase in our sales," said Ronald E. Hill, senior vice president-Financial. "Even after removing the positive effects of weather, our sales to service-area customers grew by 1.3 percent."

A reduction in PP&L's bulk power sales to a New Jersey utility reduced earnings by 4 cents per share during the 12-month period just ended. Under the contract with Jersey Central Power & Light, the amount of bulk power sold 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 second quarter of 1996, PP&L Resources reported earnings of 38 cents per share, compared with earnings of 28 cents per share in the second quarter of 1995. The increase can be attributed primarily to increased electricity sales by PP&L.

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