Revenues and Earnings

To achieve its 1995 earnings of $2.26 per share of common stock, the Company had to climb out of the hole caused by the warm weather in the first quarter of 1995. Temperatures were 21 percent warmer in the first quarter of 1995 than during the same period of the previous year, as measured by heating degree days, and earnings per share in the first quarter were 20 cents per share lower than 1994 first-quarter earnings.

These factors led to GMP's improved earnings in 1995:

• The Company negotiated a 9.25 percent retail rate increase, which went into effect in June.
• GMP continued its cost-containment efforts and reduced payroll expenditures.
• GMP achieved better results with its unregulated operations, which contributed 31 cents a share to earnings in 1995, up 7 cents per share over the 1994 contribution.

GMP's consolidated return on equity in 1995 was 10.3 percent; the allowed return was 10.9 percent. The return on electric operations alone was 11.3 percent and the allowed return on equity for electric operations was 10.9 percent.