Exhibit 99.2
KeySpan Corporation For Immediate Release
Contacts: Investors Media Relations
Michael J. Taunton Andrea Staub
718.403.3265 516.545.5052
516.824.1241 (beeper)
KeySpan Updates 2003 Earnings Guidance
BROOKLYN, N.Y., January 13, 2003 -- KeySpan Corporation (NYSE: KSE) announced
today it has updated its 2003 consolidated earnings guidance to $2.45 to $2.60
per share, due to the pending sale of 13.9 million shares of common stock to
Credit Suisse First Boston. Earnings from core operations are now forecast to be
$2.15 to $2.20 per share and earnings from Exploration and Production are
forecast to be $0.30 to $0.40 per share. The Company said it expects to use the
net proceeds from the equity sale to initially pay down commercial paper.
"This equity transaction is consistent with our financial objectives to further
strengthen our balance sheet and improve our financial ratios," said Robert B.
Catell, chairman and CEO of KeySpan. "The sale of this equity will immediately
reduce our debt to capitalization ratio by approximately 450 basis points and
strengthen our financial position. The effect of this transaction coupled with
expected interest rate savings from the pay down of commercial paper results in
dilution of approximately 7% per share."
"We are also reconfirming our 2002 earnings guidance of $2.60 to $2.75 per
share," said Mr. Catell. "In addition, we continue to assess potential
opportunities for the sale or monetization of our non-core assets to further
improve our balance and remain focused on growing our core businesses."
This announcement shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of
any offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any
jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior
to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such
jurisdiction. Investors may obtain a copy of the prospectus relating to the
offering when available from Credit Suisse First Boston, Prospectus Dept., One
Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
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A member of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, KeySpan Corporation (NYSE: KSE) is
the largest distributor of natural gas in the Northeast, with 2.5 million gas
customers and approximately 12,000 employees. KeySpan is also the largest
investor-owned electric generator in New York State and operates Long Island's
electric system under contract with the Long Island Power Authority for its 1.1
million customers. With headquarters in Brooklyn, Boston and Long Island,
KeySpan also manages a dynamic portfolio of service companies. They include:
KeySpan Energy Delivery, the group of regulated natural gas utilities; KeySpan
Home Energy Services, a group of energy product, repair and services companies
for residential and small commercial business customers; and KeySpan Business
Solutions, a full-service group of energy product, repair and services companies
for larger business customers. KeySpan also has strategic investments in
natural-gas exploration and production, pipeline transportation, distribution
and storage, and fiber-optic cable. For more information, visit KeySpan's web
site at: http://www.keyspanenergy.com.
Certain statements contained herein are forward-looking statements, which
reflect numerous assumptions and estimates and involve a number of risks and
uncertainties. For these statements, we claim the protection of the safe harbor
for forward-looking statements provided by the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. There are possible developments that could cause our actual
results to differ materially from those forecast or implied in the
forward-looking statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on
these forward-looking statements, which are current only as of the date of this
filing. We disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future
events or otherwise. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially are: general economic conditions, especially in the Northeast United
States; available sources and costs of fuel; volatility of energy prices in a
deregulated market environment as well as in the source of natural gas and fuel
used to generate electricity; potential write-down of our investment in natural
gas properties when natural gas prices are depressed or if we have significant
downward revisions in our estimated proved gas reserves; federal and state
regulatory initiatives that increase competition, threaten cost and investment
recovery and impact rate structure; our ability to successfully reduce our cost
structures; implementation of new accounting standards; the degree to which we
develop unregulated business ventures, as well as federal and state regulatory
policies affecting our ability to retain and operate those business ventures;
our ability to identify and make complementary acquisitions, as well as the
successful integration of those acquisitions; inflationary trends and interest
rates; and risks detailed from time to time in reports and other documents filed
by us with the Securities and Exchange Commission.