The Adams Express Company Declares Dividend and Announces First Quarter Outperformance

BALTIMORE, April 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Board of Directors of The Adams Express Company (NYSE: ADX) today declared an interim dividend of $0.05 per share, payable June 1, 2010, to stockholders of record May 14, 2010, and announced the Fund's benchmark-beating performance for the first quarter.

First Quarter Returns Continue Benchmark-beating Performance

For the three months ended March 31st, the total return on Adams Express' net asset value, with dividends and capital gains reinvested, was 5.6%. Comparable figures for the Standard & Poor's 500 Index and the Lipper Large-Cap Core Mutual Fund Average were 5.4% and 4.9%, respectively. The total return on Adams Express' market value was 5.0%.

For the twelve months ended March 31st, the total return on Adams Express' net asset value, with dividends and capital gains reinvested, was 50.1%. Comparable figures for the Standard & Poor's 500 Index and the Lipper Large-Cap Core Mutual Fund Average were 49.8% and 48.5%, respectively. The total return on Adams Express' market value was 46.9%.

Adams Express' net asset value at March 31, 2010, is compared with the year earlier in the following table:

The net capital gain realized on investments for the three months was $0.10 per share.

The Company repurchased 28,300 shares of its Common Stock during the quarter.

Securities Transactions

During the first quarter, the Company added four new names to its portfolio with the purchases of shares of Hewlett-Packard Co., Norfolk Southern Corp., Praxair, Inc., and T. Rowe Price Group Inc. The Company added to its existing holdings in Bank of America (via conversion to common stock of its Bank of America Common Equivalent Securities), Cliffs Natural Resources, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, Google, JPMorgan Chase, and QUALCOMM. The Company eliminated three names from its portfolio with the sales of shares of ConocoPhillips and Northwest Natural Gas Co., and the conversion of its Bank of America Common Equivalent Securities previously described. Holdings were reduced in Capital One, Del Monte Foods, Visa, and WGL Holdings. The Company held 3.1% of net assets in net cash and short-term investments.

The First Quarter Report to Stockholders is expected to be released on or about April 16, 2010.

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

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SOURCE Adams Express Company

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