News Releases

May 8, 2006

ROSEMEAD, Calif., May 8, 2006—

• Edison International (EIX) recorded consolidated earnings per common share of 78 cents in the first quarter of 2006, compared to 61 cents in the same period last year.  The increase was primarily driven by a distribution received from a discontinued operation.
• Excluding earnings from discontinued operations and other non-core items, core earnings per share were 56 cents in the first quarter of 2006 compared to 64 cents in the same period last year. 

First-Quarter 2006 Highlights:

• Earnings per common share – $0.78
• Net Income – $258 million
• Revenues – $2.8 billion
• Assets – $34.7 billion

FIRST-QUARTER EARNINGS SUMMARY

For the quarter ended March 31, 2006, EIX recorded consolidated earnings per common share of 78 cents, compared to 61 cents in the first quarter of 2005. Excluding non-core items, EIX’s first-quarter core earnings per share were 56 cents, 8 cents lower than core earnings per share in the same period last year.

“Our quarterly earnings were impacted by an extended outage of a unit at our Homer City generating station and a delay in receiving a decision on our pending general rate case,” said Chairman and CEO John Bryson.  “The Homer City unit is now back online and a California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) decision on the rate filing is expected soon.”

Key factors contributing to the decrease in core earnings include the impact from the delay in the 2006 general rate case (GRC) decision at Southern California Edison Company (SCE), and at Edison Mission Group Inc. (EMG), gains recorded in the first quarter of 2005 from Edison Capital’s Emerging Europe Infrastructure Fund, along with an outage at the Homer City facility, partially offset by higher wholesale margins driven by higher energy prices at Mission Energy Holding Company (MEHC).

Beginning in the first quarter of 2006, the results of MEHC, Edison Capital and other smaller subsidiaries are presented on a consolidated basis as EMG.  This change has been made to reflect the integrated management of MEHC and Edison Capital.  EMG, a subsidiary of EIX, has no other business activities other than through its ownership interest in its subsidiaries, including MEHC and Edison Capital. 

FIRST-QUARTER EARNINGS DETAIL

Earnings (Loss) from Continuing Operations

SCE’s first-quarter 2006 earnings from continuing operations were $121 million, compared to earnings of $131 million in the same period last year.  The decrease is primarily due to the impact of higher operating costs associated with the utility’s customer and system growth and the delay in receiving the 2006 GRC decision.  When the 2006 GRC decision is issued, SCE will be authorized by the CPUC to recover its revenue requirement effective back to January 12, 2006.  The decrease in SCE’s earnings was partially offset by the return on investment earned by SCE’s newly constructed Mountainview plant located in Southern California’s Inland Empire.

EMG’s 2006 first-quarter earnings from continuing operations were $73 million, down $3 million from the same period last year.  MEHC’s 2006 first-quarter earnings from continuing operations were $56 million, an increase of $31 million from the same period last year.  MEHC’s 2005 first-quarter earnings include a $15-million after-tax charge related to the early extinguishment of debt at MEHC.  Excluding this item, MEHC’s core earnings were $56 million in the first quarter of 2006, compared to $40 million in the same period last year.  The increase in core earnings was primarily due to higher wholesale energy margins driven by higher prices at the Illinois Plants and higher interest and other income, partially offset by lower generation and higher maintenance expenses at Homer City in 2006 due to a transformer failure at Unit 3 on January 29, 2006.  Homer City Unit 3 was returned to service on May 5, 2006.  The earnings for “Edison Capital and other” were $17 million in the first quarter of 2006, down $34 million from the same period last year.  The decrease was largely due to 2005 gains from Edison Capital’s investment in the Emerging Europe Infrastructure Fund.

The first-quarter 2006 loss from “EIX (parent) and other” of $10 million was $3 million lower than the same period last year primarily reflecting lower tax expense.  

Earnings from Discontinued Operations

EIX’s earnings from discontinued operations were $73 million in the first quarter of 2006 reflecting the receipt of a distribution from the U.K. Lakeland project previously owned by MEHC.  The earnings from discontinued operations in the first quarter of 2005 of $7 million represent the operating results and sales impacts from MEHC’s Tri-Energy and CBK international projects. 

Change in Accounting Principle

Effective January 1, 2006, Edison International adopted a new accounting standard that requires the fair value accounting method for stock-based compensation.  Implementation of this new accounting standard did not result in a material effect on first-quarter 2006 earnings.

Reminder:  EIX Will Hold a Conference Call Today

Today, EIX will hold a conference call to discuss its first-quarter 2006 financial results at 8 a.m. (Pacific time).  Although two-way participation in the telephone call is limited to financial analysts and investors, all other interested parties are invited to participate in a “listen-only mode” through a simultaneous webcast on the company’s Web site at www.edisoninvestor.com.  Additional financial and other statistical information, if any, presented during the call will be available on the Web site.  The domestic call-in number is (800) 356-8584 and the ID# is 10700.

Charts that will be referenced in the conference call follow.

Chart 1 and 2

Risk Disclosure Statement

This release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Forward-looking statements reflect Edison International’s current expectations and projections about future events based on Edison International’s knowledge of present facts and circumstances and assumptions about future events and include any statement that does not directly relate to a historical or current fact.  In this report and elsewhere, the words “expects,” “believes,” “anticipates,” “estimates,” “projects,” “intends,” “plans,” “probable,” “may,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,” and variations of such words and similar expressions, or discussions of strategy or of plans, are intended to identify forward-looking statements.  Such statements necessarily involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated.  Some of the risks, uncertainties and other important factors that could cause results to differ, or that otherwise could impact Edison International or its subsidiaries, include but are not limited to: 

• the ability of Edison International to meet its financial obligations and to pay dividends on its common stock if its subsidiaries are unable to pay dividends;
• the ability of SCE to recover its costs in a timely manner from its customers through regulated rates;
• decisions and other actions by the CPUC and other regulatory authorities and delays in regulatory actions;
• market risks affecting SCE’s energy procurement activities;
• access to capital markets and the cost of capital;
• changes in interest rates, rates of inflation and foreign exchange rates;
• governmental, statutory, regulatory or administrative changes or initiatives affecting the electricity industry, including the market structure rules applicable to each market and environmental regulations that could require additional expenditures or otherwise affect the cost and manner of doing business; 
• risks associated with operating nuclear and other power generating facilities, including operating risks, nuclear fuel storage, equipment failure, availability, heat rate and output;
• the availability of labor, equipment and materials;
• the ability to obtain sufficient insurance, including insurance relating to SCE’s nuclear facilities;
• effects of legal proceedings, changes in or interpretations of tax laws, rates or policies, and changes in accounting standards;
• supply and demand for electric capacity and energy, and the resulting prices and dispatch volumes, in the wholesale markets to which MEHC generating units have access;
• the cost and availability of coal, natural gas, fuel oil, nuclear fuel, and associated transportation;
• the cost and availability of emission credits or allowances for emission credits;
• transmission congestion in and to each market area and the resulting differences in prices between delivery points; 
• the ability to provide sufficient collateral in support of hedging activities and purchased power and fuel;
• the extent of additional supplies of capacity, energy and ancillary services from current competitors or new market entrants, including the development of new generation facilities and technologies;
• general political, economic and business conditions;
• weather conditions, natural disasters and other unforeseen events; and
• changes in the fair value of investments and other assets.

Additional information about risks and uncertainties, including more detail about the factors described above, is contained in Edison International’s reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are urged to read such reports and carefully consider the risks, uncertainties and other factors that affect Edison International’s business.  Readers also should review future reports filed by Edison International with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  The information contained in this release is subject to change without notice. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made and Edison International is not obligated to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements. 

Additional Attachments:

• Click here to view the Edison International Summary Of Consolidated Earnings
• Click here to view the Financial Overview
• Click here to view the Kwh Sales (In Thousands)

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Rosemead, Calif.-based Edison International (NYSE:EIX,) is an electric power generator and distributor, and an investor in infrastructure and renewable energy projects with assets totaling almost $35 billion.  The company is comprised of a regulated utility, Southern California Edison (SCE) and an unregulated group of business units, Edison Mission Group (EMG).  The California Public Utilities Commission does not regulate the terms of EMG’s products and services.