PPL agrees to sell Salvadoran electric company

PPL Corp. said today it agreed to sell its 86 percent stake in an El Salvadoran electricity delivery business to Ashmore Energy International for $180 million.

The sale of Distribuidora de Electricidad Del Sur, S.A. de C.V. (DelSur) is expected to close within 30 days. DelSur, headquartered in San Salvador, has 291,000 customers in the central and southern regions of the country.

PPL of Allentown said it expects to record a special after-tax earnings gain of $88 million to $93 million, or 22 to 23 cents per share, on the sale.

Early this year, PPL said it intended to sell all of its regulated electricity delivery businesses in Chile, El Salvador and Bolivia. A sale agreement was announced in April for the Bolivian operation, and the Chilean business will be sold through an auction. The three Latin American businesses serve 1.1 million customers and account for about 5 percent of PPL's annual earnings.

PPL shares were down 16 cents this morning at $45.82 on the New York Stock Exchange.