Folsom,
NJ - South Jersey Industries
(NYSE: SJI) today announced that its board of directors
had voted to increase the company’s regular quarterly
dividend from $0.245 to $0.27 per share. The increase
equates to an annualized dividend of $1.08, an increase
of $0.10 per share over the previous level. SJI has now
increased its dividend for nine consecutive years.
“Our confidence in SJI’s performance for the
remainder of 2007 and beyond supported the action by our
board to announce a 10% dividend increase,” said SJI
Chairman & CEO Edward Graham. SJI’s expectation
of strong 2007 results is supported by year-to-date performance
from a number of business lines, particularly the wholesale
commodity marketing business. This business typically shows
its strongest results in the first and fourth quarters. Losses
on hedge transactions being recognized between April and
October of this year are directly related to transactions
that produced significantly greater income in the first quarter
of 2007.
Factors that the board considers when setting the dividend
include future earnings expectations, payout ratio, and dividend
yield relative to those at peer companies as well as returns
available on other income-oriented investments. SJI recognizes
that dividends are an important income source for many of
our shareholders, and remains committed to providing a secure,
growing dividend.
The dividend is payable December 28, 2007 to shareholders
of record at the close of business December 10, 2007. SJI
has paid dividends for 56 consecutive years.
Forward-Looking Statement
This news release
contains forward-looking statements. All statements other
than statements of historical fact included in this press
release should be considered forward-looking statements made
in good faith by the Company and are intended to qualify
for the safe harbor from liability established by the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this
press release words such as “anticipate”, “believe”, “expect”, “estimate”, “forecast”, “goal”, “intend”, “objective”, “plan”, “project”, “seek”, “strategy” and
similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking
statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those expressed or implied in the
statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are
not limited to, the following: general economic conditions
on an international, national, state and local level; weather
conditions in our marketing areas; changes in commodity costs;
the timing of new projects coming online; changes in the
availability of natural gas; “non-routine” or “extraordinary” disruptions
in our distribution system; regulatory, legislative and court
decisions; competition; the availability and cost of capital;
costs and effects of legal proceedings and environmental
liabilities; the failure of customers or suppliers to fulfill
their contractual obligations; and changes in business strategies.
SJI assumes no duty to update these statements should actual
events differ from expectations.
South Jersey Industries (NYSE: SJI) is an energy services
holding company for South Jersey Gas, South Jersey Energy
Solutions, South Jersey Energy, South Jersey Resources Group,
South Jersey Energy Service Plus and Marina Energy. Visit
http://www.sjindustries.com for more information about SJI
and its subsidiaries.
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