BRIEF: Ameren posts $1 billion loss on plant writedown 

BRIEF: Ameren posts 1 billion loss on plant writedown

Feb 20, 2013 (Menafn - St. Louis Post-Dispatch - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --Ameren Corp. on Wednesday posted a 1.16 billion fourth-quarter loss after writing down the value of its Illinois power plants in response to declining wholesale power prices.

The loss equaled 4.76 a share compared with net income of 25 million, or 10 cents a share, a year earlier. Sales fell 4 percent to 1.51 billion.

St. Louis-based Ameren announced in December that it planned to exit the wholesale power generation business, which has been suffering from declining earnings and cash flow since the 2008.

The company hasn't said how or when it will exit the business, and said it may seek a sale or restructuring.

Excluding the write-down of its Illinois power plants and other non-recurring costs, Ameren earned 33 million, or 14 cents per share, compared with 34 million, or 14 cents per share, in the fourth quarter of 2011.

The company forecast earnings of 2.00 to 2.20 a share in 2013 -- less than the 2.42 a share earned last year. The decline reflects an expected decline in wholesale power prices and a return to more normal summer temperatures, which would eat into power consumption in Missouri.

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