Adams Express Declares Dividend and Reports 6 Month Performance

Date: 
07/08/2004

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, July 8, 2004 - The Board of Directors of The Adams Express Company today declared a dividend of $.05 per share, payable September 1, 2004, to stockholders of record August 17, 2004.

Performance

For the six months ended June 30th, the total return on Adams Express' net asset value, after adjusting for income dividends and capital gain distributions paid, was 3.8 percent. Comparable figures for the Standard & Poor's Index of 500 Stocks and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were 3.4 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.

For the twelve months ended June 30, 2004, the total return on Adams Express' net asset value, after adjusting for income dividends as well as capital gain distributions paid, was 20.0 percent. Comparable figures for the Standard & Poor's Index of 500 Stocks and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were 19.1 percent and 18.6 percent, respectively.

Adams Express' net asset value at June 30, 2004, is compared with the year earlier in the following table: 

Net Asset Value
 
6/30/04 
6/30/03 
Net assets

 $1,248,429,983

 $1,082,405,702

Shares outstanding 

 84,408,612

 82,909,150

Net assets per share 

 $14.79*

 $13.06

 

*After capital gain distributions of $0.02 per share paid in March 2004.
 

Securities Transactions

During the three months ended June 30, 2004, the Company added two new names to its investment list with the purchases of Avaya Inc. and E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. The Company increased its holdings in Bank of America Corp., Cree, Inc., Duke Energy Corp. (by conversion of the Duke Energy Corp. Convertible Preferred described below), Fifth Third Bancorp, Hospira Inc. (by spin-off from Abbott Laboratories), Lucent Technologies Inc., Smurfit-Stone Container Corp., and Wyeth Co.

Four issues were eliminated from the investment list with the sales of Affymetrix Inc., Nokia Corp. ADR, and TECO Energy, Inc., and the conversion of the Duke Energy Corp. 8.25% Conv. Pfd due 2004 into shares of Duke Energy Corp. common stock. The Company reduced its holdings in Albemarle Corp., Aqua America, Inc., BankNorth Group, Inc., Black & Decker Corp., Black Hills Corp., CINergy Corp., R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co., Genentech, Inc., Ingersoll-Rand Co. Ltd., Johnson & Johnson, Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings, Parker-Hannifin Corp., and Symantec Corp.

The Adams Express Company is a Baltimore-based closed-end investment company. It is traded on the New York Stock Exchange and Pacific Exchange, and its symbol is ADX.

The Semi-Annual Report is expected to be released on or about July 30, 2004.

For further information, please contact:

Joseph M. Truta, President
Lawrence L. Hooper, Jr., Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary
(410) 752-5900 or (800) 638-2479

E-mail: contact@adamsexpress.com
Website: www.adamsexpress.com

Adams Express Declares Dividend and Reports 6 Month Performance

Stock and Distribution

Nav & Stock Price Per Share
Net Asset Value: $ 12.42
Closing Price:

$ 10.62

Discount: -14.5%

This is the closing price from the NYSE on 02/10/2012.

annual DISTRIBUTION Rate
2011 6.1%
5-Year Average 5.8%

The annual distribution rate is the total dividends and capital gain distributions during the year divided by the average month-end market price of the Company's Common Stock for the calendar year in years prior to 2011 and for the 12 months ended October 31 in 2011.  As of September 8, 2011, the Board of Directors committed to an annual distribution rate of at least 6%.