PPL Building and PPL Plaza
The PPL Corp.'s PPL Building and PPL Plaza are seen at Ninth and Hamilton streets in Allentown.
(Express-Times File Photo)
Amid a spinoff of its energy supply business, PPL Corp. on Tuesday announced plans to cut about 450 jobs.
The Allentown-based company says it employs about 17,000 at its three utilities — PPL Electric Utilities, Western Power Distribution and Louisville Gas & Electric and Kentucky Utilities — and related companies.
The job cuts are the result of cost reductions, primarily in PPL Corp.'s competitive electricity generation business and service organizations, according to a news release. William H. Spence, PPL's chairman, president and CEO, announced the job reductions during a third-quarter 2014 earnings call Tuesday and said voluntary severance offerings and the elimination of vacant positions are expected to limit the number of employees leaving the company involuntarily to fewer than 200.
The third-quarter earnings were $497 million, or $0.74 per share, a 21 percent increase from $410 million, or $0.62 per share, for the same period a year ago. For the first nine months of 2014, PPL reported earnings of $1.04 billion, or $1.57 per share, compared with $1.23 billion, or $1.90 per share, in the first nine months of 2013.
PPL Corp. shares on the New York Stock Exchange closed Tuesday at 34.94, down two-tenths of a point, or 0.57 percent. The stock had risen in after-hours trading to 34.98 as of about 6:30 p.m. EST.
The company announced plans in June to shed much of its electricity generating business by merging two of its companies with similar Riverstone Holdings Inc. properties to form a new company, Talen Energy Corp.
The new company will continue to sell directly to consumers through the existing brand PPL EnergyPlus. The merger does not affect PPL Electric Utilities customers.
PPL Corp. said Tuesday it still expects closing of the Talen Energy transaction in the first or second quarter of 2015.
Spence, in a news release, said: "The strong 2014 performance of PPL's competitive energy supply business underscores the inherent value of this business and its ongoing potential as market fundamentals improve. These 2014 results provide additional confirmation that the spinoff of our supply segment will create significant short- and long-term value for our shareowners."