Addressing shareholders, Delaney says OGE is well positioned for continued dividend growth
"We remain on sound financial footing and are well positioned to deliver on a 10 percent annual dividend growth rate through 2019," Delaney said. "That, coupled with our financial guidance at the utility of 3 – 5 percent earnings growth for the next five years, will create a return to shareholders that we believe will put us in first quartile among our industry peers."
Delaney also thanked OGE members for their dedication and commitment to customer satisfaction, which led to the second consecutive
At
Prior to the close of the meeting, Delaney announced his plan to retire from
In voting announced at the annual meeting,
- Elected 10 members of the company's board of directors to one-year terms:
James H. Brandi , former managing director ofBNP Paribas Securities Corp. ,UBS Securities, LLC andDillon, Read & Co Inc. , was re-elected. He has been a director ofOGE Energy andOG&E sinceFebruary 2010 .Luke R. Corbett , former chairman and chief executive officer of Kerr-McGee, was re-elected. He has been a director ofOGE Energy andOG&E sinceDecember 1996 .Peter B. Delaney , current chairman and CEO ofOGE Energy Corp. John D. Groendyke , chairman of the board and chief executive officer ofGroendyke Transport Inc. , was re-elected. He has been a director ofOGE Energy andOG&E sinceJanuary 2003 .Kirk Humphreys , chairman and manager ofThe Humphreys Company LLC , was re-elected. He has been a director ofOGE Energy and ofOG&E sinceNovember 2007 .Robert Kelley , president ofKellco Investments Inc. , was re-elected. He has been a director ofOGE Energy andOG&E sinceDecember 1996 .Robert O. Lorenz , retired partner of the Arthur Andersen accounting firm, was re-elected. He has been a director ofOGE Energy andOG&E sinceJuly 2005 .Judy R. McReynolds , president and chief executive officer ofArcBest Corporation , was re-elected. She has been a director ofOGE Energy and ofOG&E sinceJuly 2011 .Sheila G. Talton , president and CEO of Gray Matter Analytics, was re-elected. She has been a director ofOGE Energy andOG&E sinceSeptember 2013 ;Sean Trauschke , current president ofOGE Energy Corp. andOG&E .
- Ratified the appointment of
Ernst & Young LLP as the company's principal independent accountants for 2015; - Approved, on an advisory basis, the compensation paid to named executive officers;
- Approved a shareholder proposal request for the company to take actions in the future to eliminate the supermajority voting provisions in its certificate of incorporation and adopt simple majority for certain shareholder voting; and
- Rejected by a large margin a shareowner proposal that the company prepare and publish a report by
September 2015 on greenhouse gas emission reductions above and beyond compliance, for 40 percent and 80 percent reductions by 2030 and 2050, respectively.
Also today, the Board declared a regular quarterly dividend of
Some of the matters discussed in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements are intended to be identified in this document by the words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "objective", "plan", "possible", "potential", "project" and similar expressions. Actual results may vary materially. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited to: general economic conditions, including the availability of credit, access to existing lines of credit, access to the commercial paper markets, actions of rating agencies and their impact on capital expenditures; the ability of the Company and its subsidiaries to access the capital markets and obtain financing on favorable terms as well as inflation rates and monetary fluctuations; prices and availability of electricity, coal, natural gas and natural gas liquids, each on a stand-alone basis and in relation to each other as well as the processing contract mix between percent-of-liquids, percent-of-proceeds, keep-whole and fixed-fee; business conditions in the energy and natural gas midstream industries; competitive factors including the extent and timing of the entry of additional competition in the markets served by the Company; unusual weather; availability and prices of raw materials for current and future construction projects; Federal or state legislation and regulatory decisions and initiatives that affect cost and investment recovery, have an impact on rate structures or affect the speed and degree to which competition enters the Company's markets; environmental laws and regulations that may impact the Company's operations; changes in accounting standards, rules or guidelines; the discontinuance of accounting principles for certain types of rate-regulated activities; the cost of protecting assets against, or damage due to, terrorism or cyber attacks and other catastrophic events; advances in technology; creditworthiness of suppliers, customers and other contractual parties; the higher degree of risk associated with the Company's nonregulated business compared with the Company's regulated utility business; and other risk factors listed in the reports filed by the Company with the
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SOURCE
Kathleen O'Shea, (405) 553-3395, or Financial Contact, Todd Tidwell, (405) 553-3966