By Chelsey Dulaney
Exelon Corp. posted sharply lower earnings in its fourth-quarter
amid unfavorable weather, though revenue came in above Wall Street
expectations.
The Chicago-based power company has been makings acquisitions
lately, most notably a $6.8 billion deal to buy Pepco Holdings Inc.
as it seeks to expand its reach and customer base. The deal is
expected to close later this year.
Profit at the company's PECO segment, which does electricity and
retail natural gas transmission in southeastern Pennsylvania, fell
to $98 million from $102 million a year earlier.
Profit at the ComEd segment, which consists of electricity
transmission and distribution operations in Northern Illinois, fell
33% to $73 million.
Its generation segment swung to a loss of $91 million from a
year-earlier profit of $269 million.
Overall, the company posted a profit of $18 million, or 2 cents
a share, down from $495 million, or 58 cents a share, a year
earlier.
Excluding the impact of hedging activities and other items,
per-share earnings were 48 cents.
Operating revenue grew 17.5% to $7.26 billion. Adjusted revenue
grew to $6.94 billion from $6.25 billion a year earlier.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast earnings of 50
cents a share and revenue of $5.83 billion.
For 2015, Exelon forecast operating earnings, excluding items,
of $2.25 to $2.55 a share, in line with analysts' expectations for
$2.48 a share in earnings, according to Thomson Reuters.
Write to Chelsey Dulaney at Chelsey.Dulaney@wsj.com
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