Progress Energy 2006 Annual Report Download - page 5

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3
Dear Shareholders:
Progress Energy had a very successful year in 2006 and
has entered 2007 with a healthy balance sheet and a clear
strategic focus. We are concentrating on our two strong
electric utilities and the robust growth in the Carolinas and
Florida. I’m enthusiastic about the road ahead.
In 2006 we created substantial positive momentum
in both operational and financial performance and
laid the strategic groundwork for the next 15 to
20 years.
The operational excellence achieved by our
employees earned Progress Energy our industry’s
highest honor: the Edison Award. This national
recognition came on the heels of our becoming the
first utility in the nation to win the J.D. Power
Founder’s Award, which recognizes commitment
to customer satisfaction, in late 2005. These back-
to-back awards reflect the priority we place on
excelling in the fundamentals of the utility
business. It’s the foundation for our success.
Progress Energy also made significant progress on
the financial front in 2006. We met our ongoing
earnings-per-share target, increased our dividend
for the 19th consecutive year and earned a total
shareholder return of 18.1 percent for the year. We
expect to produce ongoing earnings growth in 2007
and 2008 that is substantially greater than the
3 percent to 5 percent that we had previously
targeted from our core businesses.
Selling non-utility businesses enabled us to reduce
holding company debt by $1.7 billion in 2006 and
meet our debt-reduction goal a year ahead of schedule.
We lowered our ratio of debt to total capitalization
to 52 percent, strengthening credit quality.
A COMPANY TRANSFORMED AND FOCUSED. Progress
Energy now has the strongest balance sheet and
clearest strategic focus we’ve had in years, and it’s
centered on what we know and do best: the regulated