ALLENTOWN, Pa. Fueled by the highest level of earnings in the company's history, PPL Corp. (NYSE: PPL) today (7/26) increased its earnings forecasts for 2000 and 2001.

PPL Corp. reported record second quarter earnings of $0.64 per share in 2000. This figure is a 60 percent increase over the $0.40 per share reported in the second quarter of 1999.

For the first half of 2000, the company reported earnings of $1.63 per share, an increase of more than 40 percent over the $1.16 per share reported in the first half of 1999, which was the previous highest earnings level in PPL's history for the first six months of the year.

This unprecedented earnings performance was made possible by a set of business fundamentals that we believe will continue. Using conservative assumptions about future business conditions, we are increasing our earnings forecast to between $2.80 and $2.90 per share for 2000 and to between $3.10 and $3.20 per share for 2001, said William F. Hecht, PPL Corp.'s chairman, president and chief executive officer. The company previously had forecasted earnings of $2.65 per share for 2000 and $3.00 per share for 2001.

We are seeing improved performance on already strong earnings growth across all of our business lines, said Hecht. Of particular importance is our ability to extract increasing value from our portfolio of about 10,000 megawatts of merchant generation by combining our skills as operators of low-cost power plants with the ability of our disciplined energy marketers and traders to capture value afforded by competitive energy markets.

Hecht said PPL's corporate strategy of generating and marketing competitively priced energy in key U.S. markets and owning and operating high-quality energy delivery businesses in selected regions around the world has led to record-breaking, sustainable growth.

To maximize opportunities in key U.S. energy markets, PPL has plans to increase its generating capacity to about 20,000 megawatts by the middle of this decade. The company now owns and operates about 10,000 megawatts of capacity in Pennsylvania, Montana and Maine and is developing an additional 2,700 megawatts in Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania and Arizona.

The major drivers of PPL's stronger than previously forecast earnings performance for 2000 are:

• increased margins on energy transactions, including increased sales of retail and wholesale energy in deregulated markets and increased volumes of electricity supplied in regulated markets;

• higher volumes of electricity delivered in PPL Utilities franchised service territory;

• success in continuing to reduce operating costs; and

• higher earnings from the company's PPL Montana business.

The above factors are expected to continue to drive earnings improvement in 2001.

PPL experienced strong growth in operating revenues and net income during the first half of 2000 as compared to the first half of 1999, with operating revenues increasing 31 percent and net income increasing 28 percent. Similar strong growth took place in the second quarter of 2000, as operating revenues increased 29 percent and net income increased 46 percent in comparison to the second quarter of 1999.

Excluding one-time items, earnings per share for the 12 months ended June 30, 2000, were $2.80 compared to the similarly adjusted earnings per share of $2.12 reported for the same period last year, an increase of 32 percent. Net income for the 12 months ended June 30, 2000, increased by 19 percent over the same period last year. Operating revenues for the 12 months ended June 30, 2000, were up 26 percent over the same period last year.

Based in Allentown, Pa., PPL Corp. is a FORTUNE 500® company that delivers electricity and natural gas to more than 1.3 million customers in Pennsylvania; markets wholesale or retail energy in 43 U.S. states and Canada; provides energy services for businesses in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern U.S.; generates electricity at power plants in Pennsylvania, Maine and Montana; delivers electricity to 1.4 million customers in southwest Britain; and delivers electricity to nearly 1.8 million customers in Chile, Bolivia, El Salvador and Brazil.

Certain statements contained in this news release, including statements with respect to future earnings and generating 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; capital market conditions; 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 Securities and Exchange Commission.