CMP Group shares earn $1.03 in 1st Quarter.

AUGUSTA, Maine--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 28, 1999--

[Previously released through other channels]--CMP Group, Inc., has reported earnings of $1.03 per share of common stock for the quarter ending March 31, up from $0.51 a year ago.

CMP Group is a Maine holding company established Sept. 1, 1998. Its principal subsidiary is the Central Maine Power (CMP) electric utility.

CMP Group reported revenues of $276.6 million for the first quarter, net income of $34.2 million, and earnings for common equity of $33.3 million. Central Maine Power operations provided $271 million in revenue, $37.6 million in net income, and $36.7 million in earnings for common equity for the quarter.

Other CMP Group subsidiaries collectively accounted for $6.4 million of revenue and a loss of $3.8 million in net income for the Group results.

CMP Group Chief Financial Officer David E. Marsh said "Economic growth and a return to normal winter weather contributed to CMP's 2.2 percent gain in kilowatt-hour sales compared to first-quarter 1998, when warmer weather and the severe January ice storm cut into sales. These improved sales and continued favorable trends on operating costs contributed substantially to the quarterly earnings results."

Marsh also noted that CMP had realized a total of $6 million, after taxes, from the sale of transmission-line right-of-way access to a gas-pipeline project, and from a settlement payment involving regional transmission tariffs.

Energy sales within Central Maine Power's service-area were 2.32 billion kilowatt-hours in the first quarter of 1999, compared to 2.27 billion kwh a year before. Twelve-month energy sales were 9.1 billion kwh, down slightly from 9.2 billion kwh a year ago.

Service-area residential sales in the first quarter were 0.8 billion kwh, up 6.7 percent from a year ago; commercial sales were up 4.3 percent to 0.6 billion kwh; industrial sales were down 1.5 percent to 0.8 billion kwh, mainly due to lower sales to the pulp-and-paper industry.

"CMP's quarterly results have improved," Marsh said, "and we see some encouraging longer-term signs in the Maine economy. Maine added 15,900 new jobs in 1998. That's nearly a 3 percent gain, the biggest in a decade for the state, and the fifth-highest growth rate in the country last year, according to federal statistics. We're seeing particular growth in business, health and social-service jobs. Call centers alone created 2,000 new jobs last year. This is offsetting some weakness in traditional industries like shoes and paper."

Central Maine Power is preparing for Maine's transition to retail electric-supply competition on March 1, 2000. As part of that process, on April 7 CMP closed the $846 million sale of 1,185 megawatts of non-nuclear generation to FPL Energy; several million dollars more were received for associated real-estate parcels, fuel, and inventories.

CMP is using cash proceeds of the sale to redeem $119 million of mortgage bonds, about $227 million of unsecured Medium-Term Notes and $10 million of debt issued through pollution-control project bonds. Funds remaining after paying closing costs, about $300 million of state and federal taxes, and energy purchases to meet supply obligations until March 1, 2000, will be transferred to CMP Group. The transferred funds could be used for stock repurchases, investments in other businesses, or other purposes.

In the days preceding the sale closing, the Standard & Poor's, Moody's, and Duff & Phelps credit-rating firms took note of the planned debt reductions and change in CMP's business-risk profile to issue upgrade notices on CMP debt and preferred stock. CMP senior debt now enjoys an "A" rating from all three major ratings firms for the first time in a quarter-century.

CMP Group's MaineCom telecommunications subsidiary holds a 38.5 percent interest in NorthEast Optic Network, Inc., or NEON, which sells or leases fiber-optic capacity to carriers, and is completing a 680-mile fiber-optic network stretching from New York City to Portland. After successful initial public offerings of equity and debt last summer, NEON repaid CMP $18 million previously advanced to it. NEON's market capitalization, based on the April 22 NASDAQ closing price on its common stock, was $251 million.

Besides Central Maine Power and MaineCom, CMP Group subsidiaries include CNEX, consulting; TeleSmart, accounts-receivable services; and Union Water-Power, real estate, utility services, and energy-efficiency contracting. While still a relatively small part of CMP Group, these businesses are growing: Union Water-Power's On Target underground-locating business has a new contract with a major Northeast telephone utility, while TeleSmart has begun accounts-receivable work for a large Midwest electric company.

CMP Group common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange as "CTP." Its Internet address is http://www.cmpgroup.com.

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                      CMP Group, Inc. (NYSE:CTP)
             Condensed Consolidated Statement of Earnings

                            Quarter                  Twelve months
($000s, except              ending March 31          ending March 31
 per-share amounts)         1999       1998          1999        1998


Revenues               $   276,633 $   249,442 $   977,518 $   957,756

Net income                  34,176      18,295      73,600      15,690
minus CMP
 preferred dividends           919       1,897       3,831       7,898
equals Earnings
 for common shares          33,257      16,398      69,769       7,792

Average common
 shares                 32,442,552  32,442,752  32,442,636  32,442,752
Earnings per common
 share                 $      1.03 $      0.51 $      2.15 $      0.24

Notes:

CMP Group and Central Maine Power: 1999 results are for CMP Group, Inc., the holding company formed Sept. 1, 1998. The 1998 results are for Central Maine Power, which then comprised other subsidiaries now held as separate businesses by CMP Group. Central Maine Power common shares were automatically converted 1-for-1 to CMP Group common shares on Sept. 1, 1998.

Forward-looking statements: This release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the federal Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties such as weather, competition, regulation, and other factors noted in Company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the most recent SEC Forms 10-K and 10-Q, which readers are encouraged to consult.

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