Entergy net revenues increase from cold winter, higher cost of natural gas

"The story for first quarter results was net revenue," said Entergy Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerLeo Denault. "The cold weather we experienced this past winter put stress on the power and gas systems, driving volatility and higher prices, and gave a glimpse of the longer term path these markets are on due to years of market design issues and regulatory intervention. The market prices realized this winter allowed us to capture significant value through our hedging strategy, and it highlighted the diversification value of our nuclear assets in that region."

"Utility revenue also benefitted from the cold weather," he continued. "However, even on a weather-adjusted basis, sales growth was positive for residential, commercial and industrial customer classes and was consistent with our expectation for continued sales growth."

Operational Earnings Highlights for FirstQuarter 2014

• Entergy Wholesale Commodities earnings increased, driven by higher net revenue; a lower effective income tax rate partially offset by higher depreciation also contributed.
• Utility earnings were higher due primarily to higher net revenue driven by higher sales volume including weather and lower non-fuel operation and maintenance expense.
• Parent & Other results were about the same as last year.

Other Business Highlights

• Entergy Texas, Inc. filed a unanimous rate case settlement agreement and the administrative law judge approved interim rates; Public Utility Commission ofTexasapproval is pending.
• The Arkansas Public Service Commission granted Entergy Arkansas, Inc.'s rehearing request in its 2013 rate case.
• Indian Point Energy Center Unit 2 returned to service after a 24-day scheduled refueling outage, the site's shortest ever.
• The Vermont Public Service Board issued a certificate of public good for Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station to operate through 2014.
• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency named Entergy New Orleans, Inc. a 2014 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year Award recipient for its Energy Smart energy efficiency program.

A teleconference will be held at10 a.m. CTonThursday, April 24, 2014, to discuss Entergy's first quarter 2014 earnings announcement and the company's financial performance. The teleconference may be accessed by dialing (719) 325-2115, confirmation code 6761108, no more than 15 minutes prior to the start of the call or by visiting Entergy's website atwww.entergy.com. The presentation slides are also available on Entergy's website concurrent with this release, which was issued before market open on the day of the call. A replay of the teleconference will be available by telephone and on Entergy's website atwww.entergy.com. The telephone replay will be available throughnoon CTonThursday, May 1, 2014, by dialing (719) 457-0820, confirmation code 6761108.

Utility

In first quarter 2014, Utility earnings were$201.1 million, or$1.12per share, on an as-reported basis and$203.4 million, or$1.13per share, on an operational basis, compared to$123.5 million, or69 centsper share, on an as-reported basis and$129.8 million, or73 centsper share, on an operational basis for first quarter 2013. The quarter-over-quarter increase in operational earnings per share was due primarily to higher net revenue; lower non-fuel operation and maintenance expense also contributed. The decrease in non-fuel operation and maintenance was due partly to lower compensation and benefits expense.

Higher Utility net revenue was driven largely by colder-than-normal weather in the first quarter of the current year compared to unfavorable weather in the comparable period last year. Higher sales on a weather-adjusted basis also contributed to the increase in net revenue. These increases were partially offset by a quarter-over-quarter decrease in unbilled revenue.

Residential sales in first quarter 2014, on a weather-adjusted basis, increased 1.9 percent compared to first quarter 2013. Commercial and governmental sales, on a weather-adjusted basis, increased 2.2 percent and decreased 0.1 percent, respectively, quarter over quarter. Industrial sales in the first quarter increased 2.5 percent compared to the same quarter of 2013.

Billed retail sales increased 2.1 percent on a weather-adjusted basis. The increase was from residential, commercial and industrial customer classes and reflected growth in both the number of customers as well as usage per customer. Industrial sales growth was attributable to expansions, recovery of a major refining customer from an unplanned outage last year and continued moderate growth in the manufacturing sector both domestically and internationally.

Entergy Wholesale Commodities

EWC reported as-reported earnings of$241.9 million, or$1.35per share, and operational earnings of$248.5 million, or$1.39per share, for first quarter 2014, compared to first quarter 2013 earnings of$82.1 million, or46 centsper share, on both an as-reported and an operational basis. The increase in operational earnings was driven by higher operational adjusted earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization and interest and investment income excluding decommissioning expense and other than temporary impairment losses on decommissioning trust fund assets. A lower effective income tax rate was another factor contributing to higher quarterly earnings. These items were partially offset by higher depreciation expense.

EWC operational adjusted EBITDA was$455 millionin first quarter 2014, compared to$194 millionin the same period a year ago. The quarter-over-quarter increase was driven by significantly higher realized wholesale energy prices. The realized price for EWC's nuclear fleet was approximately$89per megawatt hour in the first quarter of this year – more than 50 percent higher than the$58realized price from the comparable quarter a year ago. EWC's hedging strategies routinely include financial instruments that manage operational and liquidity risk. These positions, in addition to a larger-than-normal unhedged position in 2014 due to the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station being in its final year of operation, allowed EWC to benefit from increases in Northeast market power prices throughout the quarter. Net revenue also reflected mark-to-market activity, which was positive for the quarter.

Contribution to first quarter 2014 operational adjusted EBITDA from Vermont Yankee, scheduled to be closed later this year at the end of its current operating cycle, was approximately$110 million.

Parent & Other

Parent & Other reported a loss of$41.9 million, or23 centsper share, on both an as-reported basis and an operational basis for first quarter 2014, compared to a first quarter 2013 as-reported and operational loss of$44.2 million, or25 centsper share.

Earnings Guidance

Entergy affirmed its 2014 operational earnings guidance in the range of$5.55 to $6.75per share. The guidance range was revised and widened onApril 15, 2014, from$4.60 to $5.40per share. The guidance range was widened to reflect increased volatility in the Northeast power markets year-to-date and the potential for that to continue through the rest of the year. The current range reflects strong first quarter 2014 results as well as other updates.

Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, including more than 10,000 megawatts of nuclear power, making it one of the nation's leading nuclear generators. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.8 million utility customers inArkansas,Louisiana,MississippiandTexas. Entergy has annual revenues of more than$11 billionand approximately 14,000 employees.

Additional information regarding Entergy's quarterly and annual results of operations, regulatory proceedings and other matters is available in Entergy's investor news release datedApril 24, 2014, a copy of which has been filed today with the SEC on Form 8-K, and Entergy's quarterly presentation slides. These are available on Entergy's investor relations website atwww.entergy.com/investor_relations.

In this news release, and from time to time, Entergy Corporation makes certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Except to the extent required by the federal securities laws, Entergy undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties. There are factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements, including (a) those factors discussed in this news release and in: (i) Entergy's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, any subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and (ii) Entergy's other reports and filings made under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; (b) uncertainties associated with rate proceedings, formula rate plans and other cost recovery mechanisms; (c) uncertainties associated with efforts to remediate the effects of major storms and recover related restoration costs; (d) nuclear plant relicensing, operating and regulatory risks, including any changes resulting from the nuclear crisis in Japan following its catastrophic earthquake and tsunami;
(e) legislative and regulatory actions and risks and uncertainties associated with claims or litigation by or against Entergy and its subsidiaries; and (f) economic conditions and conditions in commodity and capital markets during the periods covered by the forward-looking statements, in addition to other factors described elsewhere in this release and subsequent securities filings.

SOURCE NEW ORLEANS,April 24, 2014/PRNewswire/ --Entergy Corporation