BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – April 14, 2011 – The Board of Directors of Petroleum & Resources Corporation (NYSE:PEO) today declared an interim dividend of $0.10 per share, payable June 1, 2011, to stockholders of record May 13, 2011, and announced the Fund’s performance for the first quarter.
First Quarter Performance
For the three months ended March 31st, the total return on Petroleum & Resources’ net asset value, with dividends and capital gains reinvested, was 13.9%. Comparable figures were 17.2% for the Dow Jones U.S. Oil and Gas Index, 5.9% for the Dow Jones U.S. Basic Materials Index, 11.2% for the Lipper Global Natural Resources Funds Index (Lipper Peer Group), and 5.9% for the Standard & Poor's 500 Index (S&P 500). The total return on Petroleum & Resources’ market value was 13.7%.
For the twelve months ended March 31st, the total return on Petroleum & Resources’ net asset value, with dividends and capital gains reinvested, was 35.1%. Comparable figures were 39.6% for the Dow Jones U.S. Oil and Gas Index, 30.8% for the Dow Jones U.S. Basic Materials Index, 28.1% for the Lipper Peer Group, and 15.6% for the S&P 500. The total return on Petroleum & Resources’ market value was 34.9%.
Petroleum & Resources’ net asset value at March 31, 2011, is compared with the year earlier in the following table:
Net Asset Value
| 3/31/11 | 3/31/10 | |
| Net assets | $865,204,122 | $660,138,236 |
| Shares outstanding | 24,801,865 | 24,339,368 |
| Net asset value per share | $34.88 | $27.12 |
The net capital gain realized on investments for the three months was $0.73 per share.
Securities Transactions
During the first quarter, the Corporation added three new names to its portfolio with the purchases of shares of FMC Corp. (chemicals), Kinder Morgan, Inc. (pipelines), and Teck Resources Ltd. (industrial metals). The Corporation added to its existing holdings in CF Industries, Forest Oil, Freeport-McMoRan (by stock split), Halliburton, Newfield Exploration, Potash Corp. (by stock split), Royal Dutch Shell (in lieu of cash dividend), and Schlumberger. Three positions were eliminated from the Corporation’s portfolio with the sales of AGL Resources Inc., Noble Corp., and Total S.A. ADR. Holdings were reduced in Apache, Energen, Massey, MDU Resources, Nabors, National Fuel Gas, New Jersey Resources, Noble Energy, Oasis Petroleum, Occidental Petroleum, Questar, and Transocean.
The First Quarter Report to Stockholders is expected to be released on or about April 25, 2011.
Petroleum & Resources Corporation is a Baltimore-based closed-end investment company. It is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol PEO.
For further information please contact:
Lawrence L. Hooper, Jr., Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary
(410) 752-5900 or (800) 638-2479
E-mail: contact@peteres.com
Website: www.peteres.com