Artesian Resources Corporation Announces Increase in Common Stock Dividend

NEWARK, Del., April 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Artesian Resources Corporation (Nasdaq: ARTNA) announced today that its Board of Directors has approved a 0.5% increase in the Class A Non-Voting and Class B Common shareholders' dividend, raising the annual dividend to $0.7528 per share. The quarterly dividend of $0.1882 is payable on May 21, 2010 to shareholders of record at the close of business on May 7, 2010. "Increasing shareholder value is absolutely critical for our business, which is extraordinarily capital intensive and dependent on investor confidence," said Dian C. Taylor, Chair, President and CEO of Artesian Resources. This is the 70th consecutive quarterly dividend paid to shareholders. In addition, Artesian has increased its dividends each year for the last 13 years.

About Artesian Resources

Artesian Resources Corporation operates as the holding company of eight wholly-owned subsidiaries offering water, wastewater and engineering services on the Delmarva Peninsula. Artesian Water Company, the principal subsidiary, is the oldest and largest investor-owned public water utility on the Delmarva Peninsula, and has been providing water service since 1905.

SOURCE Artesian Resources Corporation