While ongoing earnings per share in 2004 were modestly below 2003 earnings per share due to mild weather, the early financing of our Illinois Power Company acquisition and the Callaway nuclear plant refueling and maintenance outage, our share price ended the year at an all-time high. In addition, our dividend yield of more than 5 percent during 2004 ranked Ameren among the top 10 yielding companies in the S&P 500® Index, and our credit ratings remained among the strongest of any of those companies.

Ameren produced a total annual return (dividends plus share price appreciation) of more than 15 percent in 2004, bringing our five-year cumulative return to almost 108 percent. These returns would be impressive in any market, but I believe they are especially meaningful in the markets we have experienced over the past five years, when an investment in the S&P 500 would have lost a cumulative 11 percent.

As I look back over 2004, I am proud of the financial performance we achieved. But I am even more proud of the progress we made in positioning Ameren for future success.