Ameren UE-Missouri and Illinois Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Ameren UE-Missouri and Illinois - Research Paper Example The paper "Ameren UE-Missouri and Illinois" concerns the Ameren Corporation. Last 1997, Ameren was born when the Union Electric Company of St. Louis, Missouri merged with its neighboring investor-owned public utility, CIPSCO Inc. which is the holding company of Central Illinois Public Service Company. Due to this merger, Ameren was able to widen its geographic scope and became one of the nation’s largest utility holding companies. It is now the parent company of UE and CIPSCO Inc. that primarily serve the people of Missouri, Illinois and Iowa. Ameren is traded in the New York Stock Exchange under the NYSE ticker symbol, AEE. Ameren Missouri is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri and Ameren Illinois is based in Peoria, III, and its current president and CEO is Thomas R. Voss. On the other hand, Ameren has a 0% insider ownership and 58% institutional ownership. Aside from being the largest electricity provider in Illinois and Missouri, Ameren is also a natural gas and oil distr ibutor, an operator of nuclear and hydroelectric power plants, merchant power production and other energy-related services. The company is held as one of the â€Å"nation’s largest investor-owned electric and gas utilities† serving â€Å"2.4 million electric and nearly one million natural gas customers around a 64,000-square-mile are of Illinois and Missouri†. Before UE and CIPSCO had decided to merge, the two utility companies were already having their owned holding companies and energy facilities. In order for them to be well-prepared.... The merged has been successful in terms of demand stability, profitability and sales revenue; however, because of several factors such as weather conditions, economic situation, state and federal regulation, high fuel costs, etc., the demand had declined. For the fiscal year for 2010, Ameren’s sales are $7.64 billion with a 1-year sales growth of 7.73%. Furthermore, its total net income has declined from $612.00 million in 2009 to $139.00 million in 2010 with a 1-year net income growth of -77.29% (see figure 1). Figure 1: Revenue vs. Net Income and Cash Flow from Operations Source: â€Å"Ameren Corporation† As forecasted, Ameren will still manage to attain a relatively stable and growing net profitability and revenue for the coming years despite of unstable economic situation (see figure 2). Figure 2: Income Statement Evolution Source: â€Å"Ameren CRP† In addition, it is projected that by 2012, the company’s annual sales will have a growth rate of 1.25% a nd its earnings per share during the 2nd and the 3rd quarter of 2011 will increase to $1.14 per share (â€Å"Ameren Corp†). This achievement is attributed to the company’s â€Å"improved plant operations, a focus on cost management, rate relief in Missouri, a recovering economy boosting industrial sales and installation of emissions reduction equipment (scrubbers) at its generation plants† (â€Å"Ameren Corporation (AEE-NYSE† 2). Ameren’s Stock Price (2006-2010) Source: â€Å"Ameren Corp† The chart above indicates the stock price performance of Ameren from 2006 to 2010. As seen in the chart, the stock performance is declining from +5.26% in 2006 to -48.44% in 2008 and to +1.79% in 2010 with a 5-year change of -44.76%. For five years, the historical growth rates of Ameren sales