ALLENTOWN, Pa.---PP&L Resources, Inc. Wednesday (10/23) reported earnings of $2.16 per share of common stock for the 12-month period ended Sept. 30, 1996, compared to $1.44 per share reported by the company in the same period the year before.

The results for both periods include several nonrecurring items and also were affected by variations in the weather. When these factors are removed, earnings per share were $2.01 for the 12-month period just ended, compared to $1.86 for the year-earlier period -- an increase of 15 cents per share, or 8 percent.

"The earnings improvement reflects an increase in energy sales, ongoing actions to reduce costs and a full year's effect of the 3.8 percent base rate increase granted last September," said Ronald E. Hill, senior vice president-Financial.

"We're encouraged by the continued trend of increase in our kilowatt-hour sales," said Hill. For the first nine months of 1996, sales to service-area customers grew 3.1 percent over the same period a year ago.

"After removing the effects of weather in both nine-month periods, our sales to service-area customers grew by 2.0 percent. Sales in all major categories — residential, commercial and industrial -- were up."

Nonrecurring items were related to adjustments arising from regulatory decisions by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission for Pennsylvania Power & Light Co., the electric utility subsidiary of PP&L Resources; the write-down and subsequent sale of PP&L coal reserves; and the cost of work-force reductions at PP&L.

A colder-than-normal winter helped increase earnings in the 12-month period just ended. During the third quarter, however, a cooler summer meant lower weather-related sales than in the same period of last year.

A reduction in PP&L's contractual bulk power sales to a New Jersey utility reduced earnings by 5 cents per share during the 12-month period just ended. Under the terms of the contract, the amount of bulk power sold 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 third quarter of 1996, PP&L Resources reported earnings of 49 cents per share, compared with earnings of 55 cents per share in the third quarter of 1995. After removing the effects of weather and other adjustments, third-quarter earnings in 1996 were 53 cents per share, up 36 percent over third-quarter 1995 earnings, which were 39 cents a share.

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.