ALLENTOWN, Pa.---As the result of a 21 percent increase in operating revenues in 1999, PPL Corp. has moved up to No. 349 in the Fortune 500, a 52-place rise in one year.

In the past two years, the Allentown, Pa.-based company has risen 118 places on the list, which is published by Fortune Magazine every April.

PPL Corporation also moved up significantly in Business Week's rankings of the S&P 500, which was published in late March. PPL now ranks 116 in that list as compared with 135 in last year's ranking. PPL ranks third among the 37 utilities in the Business Week rankings, an improvement of one place from a year ago.

The Business Week list ranks each S&P 500 company in eight categories: one-year total return; three-year total return; one-year sales growth; three-year average sales growth; one-year profit growth; three-year average annual profit growth; net profit margins; and return on equity.

William F. Hecht, PPL Corp. chairman, president and chief executive officer, said the improvements in both rankings are directly tied to the company's new acquisitions and its U.S. energy sales expansion strategy.

"Over the past two years, reflecting success of PPL Global, LLC, our international company, and the continued expansion of our energy marketing operation, PPL Corporation's operating revenues have increased by nearly 50 percent," said William F. Hecht, PPL chairman, president and chief executive officer. "And, these revenue increases have occurred as increased competition has come to our business in Pennsylvania."

The revenue increase also has been reflected in a 26 percent increase in earnings per share, Hecht said. The company's earnings per share, adjusted to exclude one-time items, have increased from $1.87 in 1998 to $2.35 in 1999.

Hecht said that the company's energy delivery businesses in the United Kingdom, Chile, Bolivia and El Salvador are contributing significantly to the company's increase in earnings per share. In 1999, nearly 7 percent of the company's earnings per share came from PPL Global operations, principally those in Europe and Latin America.

Hecht pointed out that PPL revenues also have been enhanced by the superior operation of its electricity and natural gas delivery businesses in Pennsylvania.

"Over the past five years, PPL has grown dramatically in a geographic sense. We now serve more than 3.5 million customers around the world," said Hecht.

Hecht said PPL's wholesale revenues from sales to other utilities and resellers have also increased significantly, more than doubling over the past two years. "We now are marketing wholesale energy in 43 states and Canada," said Hecht. "This is exactly the type of growth that we anticipated when we aggressively supported increased competition in the electricity business three years ago. Clearly, we are seeing the fruits of the integrated business strategy that we developed to pursue new marketplace opportunities."

To maximize opportunities in key U.S. energy markets, PPL has plans to more than double its generating capability to about 20,000 megawatts by the middle of this decade. The company now operates power plants in Pennsylvania, Montana and Maine and is developing plants in Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Arizona.

"We are particularly excited about marketing opportunities in the Western states, which are opened up by our fleet of 13 recently acquired power plants in Montana and the plant that we are building in Arizona," said Hecht.

The company's wholesale energy marketing operation has offices in Pennsylvania, Montana and Maine. Hecht said PPL also is selling electricity to end-use customers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. The company also markets natural gas to wholesale and end-use customers in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey and Delaware.

Hecht said the company expects its growth to continue. PPL now projects 2000 earnings per share, adjusted to exclude one-time items, in the $2.60 to $2.65 range and $2.95 to $3.00 in 2001. "Our 2001 earnings forecast represents about a 60 percent increase over our 1998 adjusted earnings. This is remarkable growth that clearly reflects the success of our efforts to increase our energy sales while also increasing the scope of our energy delivery business."

The expanding PPL Corporation has announced its plans to realign into four principal operating businesses:

• PPL Utilities, which will deliver electricity to 1.3 million customers in Pennsylvania and natural gas to 70,000 customers in Pennsylvania and Maryland.
• PPL EnergyPlus, LLC, which will market wholesale or retail electricity in 43 states as well as Canada. PPL EnergyPlus already is one of the leading suppliers of competitively marketed electricity in mid-Atlantic-region states that have deregulated electricity markets.
• PPL Generation, LLC, which will operate the company's growing fleet of domestic power plants. The company will own and operate PPL's existing plants in Pennsylvania, Montana and Maine and plants in other areas as PPL expands its generation holdings.
• PPL Global, Inc., which owns and operates companies in the United Kingdom and Latin America that deliver electricity to 2.2 million customers and develops energy projects in the United States and overseas. PPL Global currently owns power plants in Spain, Portugal, Bolivia and Peru and is building plants in Connecticut, Arizona and Pennsylvania

Regulatory approvals for the company's realignment plans are expected by mid-year.

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Certain statements contained in this news release, including statements with respect to future earnings and generation capacity, are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Although PPL Corp. believes that the expectations and assumptions reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, these statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from the results discussed in the statements. The following are among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements: market demand and prices for energy, capacity and fuel; weather variations affecting customer energy usage; competition in retail and wholesale power markets; the effect of any business or industry restructuring; the profitability and liquidity of PPL Corp. and its subsidiaries; new accounting requirements or new interpretations or applications of existing requirements; operating performance of plants and other facilities; environmental conditions and requirements; system conditions and operating costs; performance of new ventures; political, regulatory or economic conditions in countries where PPL Corp. or its subsidiaries conduct business; foreign exchange rates; and the commitments and liabilities of PPL Corp. and its subsidiaries. Any such forward-looking statements should be considered in light of such factors and in conjunction with PPL Corp.'s Form 10-K and other reports on file with the SEC.