Neutron powder diffraction and transport measurements have been used to investigate the PrBaCo 2 O 5.48 compound between room temperature and 820 K. A structural phase transition, involving a rearrangement of oxygen vacancies, was found at T OD = 776 K. Across the transition the perovskite structure loses its vacancy ordering, and the crystal symmetry changes from orthorhombic Pmmm to tetragonal P4/mmm. The resisitivity measurements for temperatures above ϳ350 K yield high values of , indicating that the compound is rather semiconducting than metallic as usually accepted. A model in terms of thermally activated hole ͑polaronic͒ hopping is proposed.