DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

Ameren Corp. (AEE) Friday said its first-quarter profit rose 2.2% on higher electric rates in Illinois.

The electric and natural-gas utility company, whose results beat analysts' expectations, lowered its 2009 earnings guidance. Ameren now expects 2009 earnings to be $2.63 to $2.98 a share, down from $2.68 to $3.08 a share.

St. Louis-based Ameren posted first-quarter profit of $141 million, or 66 cents a share, up from $138 million, or 66 cents a share, a year earlier. Total operating revenue fell 7.9% to $1.9 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast, on average, earnings of 57 cents a share.

Excluding the results of a 2007 Illinois electric rate settlement and asset revaluations, first-quarter earnings fell 15%, to $114 million, or 54 cents a share, from $134 million, or 64 cents a share, in 2008. The earnings drop resulted from lower electric and gas sales in the recession, higher fuel costs and a severe winter storm.

Ameren said in April that it was suspending plans to build a new nuclear reactor in Missouri because of state legislation that would prevent the company from recovering costs associated with building the plant.

Ameren shares were up 26 cents, or 1.1%, at $23.28 in recent trading.

-By Christine Buurma, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-2061; christine.buurma@dowjones.com