On a generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) basis, Constellation Energy has reported a loss of $0.62 per share, compared with earnings of $0.81 per share in the year-ago quarter. Year-over-year GAAP results were driven by one-time negative impacts mainly associated with divestiture activities, merger termination and strategic alternatives costs and impairments related to our equity investment in Constellation Energy Partners (CEP) and its nuclear decommissioning trust funds.

Constellation Energy has reaffirmed earnings guidance for 2009 of $2.90 to $3.20 per share and for 2010 of $3.05 to $3.45 per share.

Our core businesses continue to deliver strong results in a challenging economy, said Mayo A. Shattuck III, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Constellation Energy. As expected, the de-risking activities and strategic realignment that we began in August 2008 drove one-time GAAP losses in the quarter. As we work steadily through this transitional year, it’s important to differentiate our operational performance from the impact of one-time losses.

Our strategic realignment is on track, said Shattuck. The divestitures of the majority of our international commodities operation in the first quarter and of our Houston-based gas trading operation in April 2009 were completed in a difficult financial and commodity market environment. We are ahead of schedule in our de-risking plan and now have approximately $4 billion of net available liquidity. The approval process for our nuclear joint venture with EDF is also moving along steadily. We’ve already received clearance from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the New York Public Service Commission. We continue to expect that we will close this transaction in the third quarter of this year.

In the past six months, we significantly reduced our exposure to collateral variability associated with movements in coal and gas prices and improved net available liquidity, Shattuck said. We’re confident that any incremental losses associated with further de-risking will not alter our 2009 guidance.

We’re pleased with the operational performance of the company in the first quarter, Shattuck said. The steps we have taken strengthened the balance sheet considerably and improved our liquidity. While there is more work to be done as we adjust to new market realities, our pending nuclear joint venture with EDF holds further promise. We believe that upon completion of our strategic realignment, which we expect will culminate with the close of the nuclear joint venture, Constellation Energy will be positioned well for the future.

Baltimore Gas and Electric Company

Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE), Constellation Energy’s regulated electric and gas utility, has reported adjusted earnings of $0.41 per share in the first quarter of 2009, up $0.04 per share from the first quarter of 2008. While BGE traditionally records about half of its annual earnings in the first quarter of 2009 due to seasonal demand for natural gas and electricity, the increase was primarily due to the timing of expenses within the year. Offsetting these favorable items was an increase in bad debt expense.

Merchant

On an adjusted basis, the company’s Merchant segment has earned $0.33 per share in the first quarter of 2009, down $0.25 per share from year-ago quarter. The contribution from our Generation operation was $0.08 per share higher as compared with the first quarter of 2008, primarily due to higher capacity revenue and fewer forced outages. The customer supply improved by $0.18 per share during the first quarter of 2009 as compared with the year-ago quarter, due primarily to improved contribution from our Wholesale Customer Supply business. The offsetting these positive results was Global Commodities, which recorded earnings about $0.22 per share lower than in the first quarter of 2008, reflecting Constellation Energy’s efforts to de-risk and reduce the scope of our commodity activities. The other negative impacts in the first quarter of 2009, against the year-ago quarter, mainly included higher interest expense and dilution from incremental shares issued at the end of 2008.