Company records impairment in natural gas distribution and
propane businesses, currently held for sale

PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL) on Friday (2/29) reported revised earnings of $3.35 per share for 2007, reflecting a net fourth-quarter impairment charge of $21 million, or $0.05 per share, related to a reassessment of its natural gas distribution and propane businesses.  On January 31, 2008, PPL reported earnings of $3.40 per share for 2007.

This impairment charge is reflected in the Consolidated Financial Statements in PPL’s 2007 Form 10-K being filed Friday (2/29). This impairment charge is considered a special item and does not affect PPL’s previously-announced earnings from ongoing operations of $2.60 per share for 2007. 

PPL’s natural gas distribution and propane businesses are expected to be sold during the second half of 2008, following the execution of a sales agreement and the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals. 

PPL Corporation, headquartered in Allentown, Pa., controls more than 11,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the United States, sells energy in key U.S. markets and delivers electricity to about 4 million customers in Pennsylvania and the United Kingdom.

(Note:  All references to earnings per share in the text and tables of this news release are stated in terms of diluted earnings per share.)

“Earnings from ongoing operations” excludes the impact of special items.  Special items include charges or credits that are unusual or non-recurring and the mark-to-market impact of energy-related, non-trading economic hedges.  The mark-to-market impact of these hedges is economically neutral to the company in that offsetting gains or losses on underlying accrual positions will be recognized as energy is delivered over the terms of the contracts. Earnings from ongoing operations should not be considered as an alternative to reported earnings, or net income, which is an indicator of operating performance determined in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) in the United States. PPL believes that earnings from ongoing operations, although a non-GAAP measure, is also useful and meaningful to investors because it provides them with PPL’s underlying earnings performance as another criterion in making their investment decisions. PPL’s management also uses earnings from ongoing operations in measuring certain corporate performance goals. Other companies may use different measures to present financial performance.