Exelon Corp.’s fourth-quarter profitability beat Wall Street estimates, as the Chicago-based utility company reported Wednesday that it earned $631 million, or 96 cents a share during the quarter, compared with $610 million, or 92 cents in the year-ago period.
Analysts had been expecting Exelon to earn 91 cents to 92 cents during the quarter.
For the year, Exelon said it earned $2.69 billion, or $4.06 a share, compared with $2.72 billion, or $4.12 in 2009. Still, analysts had been expecting full-year earnings in the range of $3.99 a share.
Exelon noted that it expects the Illinois Commerce Commission to decide in late May whether a $326 million rate increase sought by ComEd will be approved.
The company also said that based on normal weather, it expected to earn between $3.90 and $4.20 a share in 2011.
