KMI Kinder Morgan Inc

By Kimberly Chin

Kinder Morgan Inc. has raised its quarterly dividend by 5% but scaled down expenses due to the effects of the coronavirus on fuel demand and the significant decline in oil prices.

The pipeline operator said its quarterly dividend will now be 0.2625 cents a share, compared with the 25 cents it previously approved in the fourth quarter. On an annual basis, the company's dividend comes to $1.05 a share.

"Sharp declines in both commodity prices and refined product demand in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic clearly affected our business and will continue to do so in the near term," the company said in a release.

Kinder Morgan said it is cutting expenses and keeping capital expenditures by over $100 million combined versus its budget. It is also reducing its expansion capital outlook by about $700 million for the year, or roughly 30%, the company said Wednesday.

The Houston company said it expects its discounted cash flow to be about 10% below its projection of around $5.1 billion. It also expects adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to fall by around 8% from its previous estimate of $7.6 billion.

The company now projects ending the year with a net debt-to-adjusted Ebitda ratio of about 4.6 times, which is still consistent with its long-term objective of about 4.5 times, the company said.

Shares of Kinder Morgan, which traded up 1.45% in regular trading, fell 1.2% in after hours to $14.50.

Write to Kimberly Chin at kimberly.chin@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 22, 2020 18:13 ET (22:13 GMT)

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