AEP announces Fourth Quarter and Year-End 2009 earnings

    COLUMBUS, Ohio -- American Electric Power today reported 2009 year-end earnings, prepared in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), of $1.357 billion or $2.96 per share, compared with $1.380 billion or $3.43 per share in 2008. Ongoing earnings (earnings excluding special items) for 2009 were $1.362 billion or $2.97 per share, compared with $1.301 billion or $3.24 per share in 2008.

    GAAP and ongoing earnings for fourth-quarter 2009 were $238 million or .50 per share, compared with fourth-quarter 2008 GAAP earnings of $152 million or .38 per share and fourth-quarter 2008 ongoing earnings of $237 million or .59 per share.

    The per-share results for the year and the fourth quarter reflect the dilutive effect of additional shares outstanding, which reduced ongoing earnings for 2009 by .42 per share for the year and .09 per share for the quarter as compared with the prior periods. For the year, GAAP earnings were $5 million lower than ongoing earnings, primarily because of the reapplication of cost-of-service regulation for the generation portion of electric utility service for the Texas jurisdiction of AEP's Southwestern Electric Power Co. utility.

    "We're pleased with our results for the quarter and year when considering the economic conditions we faced," said Michael G. Morris, AEP chairman, president and chief executive officer. "We anticipated reduced sales in 2009 and took steps to maintain our levels of service while tightly controlling costs. The success of this effort is evident in our operations and maintenance expenses for 2009. We kept these expenses virtually flat with 2008 and would have been below 2008 levels without the costly recovery efforts after winter storms in our eastern utilities in late December.

    "The economy remains a concern," Morris said. "The best news is that we aren't seeing a continued decline in sales. Industrial sales in the fourth quarter were consistent with what we saw in the third quarter and actually showed a slight uptick in December, although one month definitely doesn't represent a trend. Residential and commercial sales - an area of significant year-to-year growth before the recession - have stalled but haven't declined as much as expected. These factors have us cautiously optimistic for improvement in the months ahead."

    American Electric Power is one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, delivering electricity to more than 5 million customers in 11 states. AEP's utility units operate as AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power (in Virginia and West Virginia), AEP Appalachian Power (in Tennessee), Indiana Michigan Power, Kentucky Power, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, and Southwestern Electric Power Company (in Arkansas, Louisiana and east Texas). AEP's headquarters are in Columbus, Ohio.