ST. LOUIS, Jan. 26, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Speaking to shareholders at Spire's annual meeting today, Spire Chairman of the Board Ed Glotzbach highlighted that the company is achieving transformative success with a well-articulated growth strategy and a focus on enriching lives and adding value for shareholders and communities.

During the meeting, Glotzbach emphasized how Spire's success is reflected in a number of key metrics. Spire grew net economic earnings per diluted share, representing growth of 7.2 percent compared to 2015 earnings (after normalizing prior year results for the unusually cold weather). This growth keeps Spire poised to achieve the long-term earnings per share growth target of 4 to 6 percent.

"We officially became Spire in April. In changing our name, we further unified our businesses together as one company. The name 'Spire' represents our ongoing efforts to bring people and energy together in ways that enrich lives and add value for our shareholders and communities," Glotzbach said. "To make this vision real, we've increased our scale and expanded our geographic footprint. And, as a result of our success in acquiring and growing gas utilities over the last four years, we've quadrupled our enterprise value, giving us the resources we need to expand in the future."

During the meeting, shareholders elected three members of the board of directors each to serve for a three-year term:

• Edward L. Glotzbach, retired vice chairman, mergers and acquisitions, Information Services Group
• Rob L. Jones, retired co-head, Bank of America Merrill Lynch Commodities, Inc.
• John P. Stupp, Jr., president, Stupp Bros., Inc.

Shareholders also provided advisory approval of compensation of executives named in the proxy statement, advisory approval of one year as the interval at which Spire will seek shareholder advisory approval of compensation of named executive officers, and ratified the appointment of Deloitte & Touche LLP as the independent registered public accountant for the company for the 2017 fiscal year.

Following the shareholders' meeting, the board of directors declared a quarterly common stock dividend of 52.5 cents per share. The dividend is payable on April 4, 2017 to shareholders of record on March 10, 2017. Spire has continuously paid a cash dividend since 1946, with 2017 marking the company's 14th consecutive year of increasing its dividend on an annualized basis.

A video archive of the annual shareholder meeting is available on the company website.

About Spire

At Spire Inc. (NYSE: SR) we believe energy exists to help make people's lives better. It's a simple idea, but one that's at the heart of our company. Every day we serve 1.7 million customers making us the fifth largest publicly traded natural gas company in the country. We help families and business owners fuel their daily lives through our gas utilities – Alagasco, Laclede Gas, Missouri Gas Energy, Mobile Gas and Willmut Gas. Our non-utility businesses, Spire Marketing Inc. and Spire Natural Gas Fueling Solutions, provide energy solutions to other natural gas users. We are committed to transforming our business and pursuing growth by 1) growing our gas utility business through prudent infrastructure upgrades and organic growth initiatives; 2) acquiring and integrating gas utilities; 3) modernizing our gas supply assets; and 4) investing in innovation. Learn more at SpireEnergy.com.

Investor Contact:
Scott W. Dudley Jr.
314-342-0878
[email protected]

Media Contact:
Jessica B. Willingham
314-342-3300
[email protected]

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SOURCE Spire Inc.