Entergy 2004 Annual Report Download - page 22

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-20 -
Entergy Corporation and Subsidiaries 2004
eremain committed to using our
long-term aspirations as a guide for
developing our strategies and guiding
our execution. In particular, we work to identify and
act on strategic opportunities that will enable us to
achieve our stated financial aspirations:
•Earnings growth of eight to ten percent in 2005
and 2006 and five to six percent in the longer term.
•Return on invested capital of nine percent.
•Anet debt to net capital ratio of less than
50 percent.
•Continuous improvement in credit ratings and
business profile position.
•Consistent dividend increases.
Our current objectives include several strategic
opportunities that may advance our aspirations.
Some willmaterializeand some will not.
In our utilities, we havethe opportunity to:
•Recover ongoing investments in our rate base in
order to improve reliabilityand service.
•Earnincentives under performance-based rate
structures and incentive regulation.
•Acquire generating capacity under our Generation
Supply Plan.
In our nuclear business, we have the opportunity to:
•Execute new service agreements in the U.S. and
evaluate opportunities in other markets.
•Acquire additional nuclear assets in the U.S.
•Increase capacity through uprates.
•Sell our output forward under a comprehensive
hedging plan to better optimize our pricing.
•Transform our asset portfolio into a business by
adding other types of generation or a short position.
We also continue to evaluate merger and
acquisitionopportunities as they become available
along with other capital investment opportunities to
grow our business. In addition, we continually
evaluate the opportunity to return cash to shareholders
through dividends and share repurchases.
We believe the opportunities we have identified –
along with the decisions made and actions taken in
2004 – will lead to continued growth in 2005 and the
years ahead, in keeping with our financial aspirations.
Looking to the Future
Survival of the Species
W
THE FOREST AND THE TREES
s
In everyaction we take – from the sale of Entergy-Koch Trading to the capital investment to
upgrade a transmission line – we areguided by decisive points of view based on extensive
market knowledge and sophisticated analysis. We link the big picture to the everyday execution
of hundreds of details across our business.