Entergy (ETR)

Entergy continues to focus on recovery in the aftermath of hurricanes that severely affected its business operations in August and September of 2005. While these storms created issues that may affect near-term financial performance, the company's long-term aspirations remain intact. Specifically, Entergy aspires to deliver average annual earnings per share growth of 5-6%, to achieve a 9% return on invested capital, and to continue to improve the company's overall credit quality over the long-term. The company's ability to achieve these aspirations over time will be based upon a combination of factors. These include, but are not limited to, intrinsic growth, the recovery of storm-related restoration costs, the return of customers and load to portions of the Entergy service territory that have been severely damaged and further impacted by new flood maps and more stringent building codes, and the amount of cash that is available for capital deployment in investments, share repurchases, dividends or debt retirement.

Table 9 provides details on Entergy's projected cash available for capital redeployment for the period 2006 through 2008 excluding Entergy New Orleans. Entergy expects to have $1.9 billion of cash available over this period for several potential uses: investments in new businesses or assets, repayment of debt or equity, or dividend increases. Sources of cash do not include storm recovery initiatives, such as insurance, regulatory rate relief, or funding through community development block grants because they are too preliminary or uncertain at this time. Sources of cash also include debt that Entergy believes it could issue in association with new investments while maintaining a net debt ratio of 50% or less. The amount of additional debt could vary depending upon the type of new investment and the credit market environment. Uses of cash shown on the table reflect current estimates of storm restoration spending and share repurchases based on resumption of the $1.5 billion share repurchase program approved in 2004. The amount of repurchases may vary as a result of material changes in business results or capital spending or material new investment opportunities.

Appendix E provides details on planned capital expenditures by business, and appendix F includes a summarized schedule of debt maturities.