ITC Holdings Announces New 5-Yr Plan, $250 Mln Stock Buyback Program

(RTTNews) - ITC Holdings Corp. (ITC) on Tuesday announced its new five-year capital investment plan of about $4.5 billion for the period 2014 through 2018, as a part of a comprehensive strategic update.

The new five-year plan reflects expected investments of about $2.2 billion in ITC's base operating companies, about $1.2 billion in regional infrastructure projects, and about $1.1 billion in additional development projects.

The company expects successful execution of the capital investment plan to increase its consolidated year-end rate base plus construction work in progress by about 70% over the plan period. The increase in projected rate base plus construction work in progress is expected to result in compound annual growth in operating earnings per share in the range of 11% to 13% over the forecast period.

The company also said it expects to grow its dividend annually in the range of 10% to 15% over the same time frame.

Additionally, the company said its board of directors has authorized up to $250 million in share repurchases through December 31, 2015 as part of its broader capital allocation plan.