At its annual meeting of FPL Group, Inc. stockholders today, executives said the company experienced one of the strongest years in its history in 2000 and expects continued strong growth over the next several years.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer James L. Broadhead described the company's performance in 2000 as "exceptionally strong." Net income of $745 million (excluding special charges related to the proposed merger) was the highest recorded by the company and 9.4 percent higher than the previous year. Earnings per share grew by 10.1 percent and the total return on FPL Group common stock for 2000 -- dividends plus stock-price appreciation -- was nearly 75 percent. This was substantially better than the return of the Standard & Poor's Electric Companies Index.

"While 2000 was an outstanding year, we have always emphasized the importance of long-term shareholder value over that of any given year," Mr. Broadhead said. "Over the past decade, FPL Group has provided shareholders with an annualized total return of 15.2 percent. During this period the value of our company increased by approximately $8 billion. So it was not only a very strong year of performance for FPL Group, but also an outstanding decade."

Looking forward, the FPL Group CEO said he expects the company to achieve a 7 percent increase in earnings per share in 2001, excluding merger-related expenses. FPL Group reported record first quarter net income of $129 million, excluding merger related expenses, compared with $121 million a year ago. Earnings per share rose to 76 cents from 71 cents a year ago, a 7 percent increase. Mr. Broadhead also indicated the company expects earnings per share to increase an average of 7 percent over the next several years.

"Florida Power & Light is one of the strongest utilities in the nation, with a high growth rate and a tremendous record of continuing improvements in efficiency," Mr. Broadhead said. "FPL Energy is the growth engine of our company and a leading independent power producer with perhaps the strongest operating skills in the country."

Paul Evanson, president of Florida Power & Light, said the Florida-based utility is in a very strong position going forward after having one of the best years in the 75-year history of the company.

"Our power plants operated superbly last year -- substantially outperforming the national average. Our electric reliability continued to improve and now ranks within the top 20 percent in the nation. We reduced the time it takes to restore power by 10 percent and reduced the number of minutes our average customer is without power by 30 percent. Our operating and maintenance costs per kilowatt hour continue to decline," said Mr. Evanson.

He said:

* FPL's growth rate continues to be substantially higher than that of most other electric utilities. The customer base grew 2.5 percent last year. Usage per customer grew nearly 2 percent in 2000. Similar growth is expected over the next several years.

* Unlike some other parts of the country where there are concerns about having enough power, FPL expects to have an adequate supply of electricity with a reserve margin of 20 percent this summer.

* Over the next 10 years, FPL expects to add close to 7,000 megawatts of new capacity, a 40 percent increase over current generation. That's enough power to provide electricity to nearly one and one-half million homes.

"In short," Mr. Evanson said, "there is no crisis in electricity capacity in Florida -- now or at any time on the horizon."

Lew Hay, president of FPL Energy, said he is "very optimistic about the future of our independent power business -- especially after our performance last year."

He said FPL Energy, which is a wholesale power business that develops, owns and operates power plants outside of Florida:

* Has power plants with more than 4,100 megawatts in operation in 12 states and is an industry leader in the use of environmentally friendly fuels.

  * Increased its generating portfolio by 37 percent in 2000.
  * Increased net income from $58 million to $83 million, up 43 percent.

* Expects to complete projects totaling more than 1000 megawatts by the end of this year and has announced plans to build nearly 5,400 megawatts of generating capacity over the next three years. Power plants totaling more than 50 percent of that capacity are already under construction.

"By the end of 2003, we anticipate having a portfolio of more than 9,500 megawatts. That would be about half the generating capacity that Florida Power & Light has today."

FPL Group also declared a regular quarterly common stock dividend of 56 cents a share, payable June 15 to stockholders of record May 25. The dividend was increased by two cents a share in the first quarter.

FPL Group, with annual revenues of more than $7 billion, is one of the nation's largest providers of electricity-related services. Its principal subsidiary, Florida Power & Light Company, serves approximately 3.9 million customer accounts in Florida. FPL Energy, LLC, an FPL Group energy-generating subsidiary, is a leader in producing electricity from clean and renewable fuels. Additional information is available on the Internet at http://www.fplgroup.com/, http://www.fpl.com/ and http://www.fplenergy.com/.

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SOURCE: FPL Group, Inc.