AEP Increases Quarterly Dividend To 50 Cents A Share

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Oct 22, 2013, 12:15 ET

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Oct. 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Directors of American Electric Power Co. (NYSE: AEP) today declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of 50 cents a share on the company's common stock, increasing the dividend 2 percent from the previous 49 cents a share. AEP last increased its dividend in April 2013.

The dividend is payable Dec. 10, 2013, to shareholders of record as of Nov. 8, 2013. AEP has paid a cash dividend on its common stock every quarter since July 1910.

"We are pleased that our solid financial performance allows us to continue to reward our shareholders by increasing the dividend for the second time this year. With this increase, our dividend has grown nearly 4 percent this year," said Nicholas K. Akins, AEP's president and chief executive officer. "I want to commend our employees for their role in supporting our performance. Their diligence and commitment to improvement has allowed us to deliver strong financial results and reward our investors for 414 consecutive quarters."

American Electric Power is one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, delivering electricity to more than 5.3 million customers in 11 states. AEP ranks among the nation's largest generators of electricity, owning nearly 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. AEP also owns the nation's largest electricity transmission system, a 40,000-mile network that includes more 765-kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines than all other U.S. transmission systems combined. AEP's transmission system directly or indirectly serves about 10 percent of the electricity demand in the Eastern Interconnection, the interconnected transmission system that covers 38 eastern and central U.S. states and eastern Canada, and approximately 11 percent of the electricity demand in ERCOT, the transmission system that covers much of Texas. AEP's utility units operate as AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power (in Virginia and West Virginia), AEP Appalachian Power (in Tennessee), Indiana Michigan Power, Kentucky Power, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, and Southwestern Electric Power Company (in Arkansas, Louisiana and east Texas). AEP's headquarters are in Columbus, Ohio.