Hess Highlights Strong Q1 Financials in New Letter to Shareholders

NEW YORK -- Hess Corp. sent a fourth letter to shareholders today encouraging them to vote for its proposed slate of six board of directors on or before the company's May 16 annual meeting.

Hess continues to fight off Elliott Management Corp., which purchased more than 4 percent of the company's stock and proposed its own board of five new directors in an effort to boost its stock.

The activist investor group will host a town hall-style meeting on April 30 where Hess shareholders can meet and listen to Elliott Management's proposed board of directors. The event will take place at the Le Parker Meridien hotel in New York City at 4:30 p.m.

In today's letter, Hess noted there are several reasons why investors should vote for its proposed board of directors. Chief among those reasons is that the company is functioning well.

"On April 24, Hess reported strong [2013 fiscal] first-quarter results," the letter reads. "These results demonstrate our continuing momentum, which is being driven by our transformation to a pure-play exploration and production (E&P) company."

Specifically, as CSNews Online reported yesterday, Hess earned a net profit of $1.276 billion in its latest quarter vs. $545 million in the year-ago period. It also authorized a $4 billion share repurchase program.

As part of its transformation into an E&P company, Hess plans to sell the 1,361 convenience stores and gas stations it owned as of Dec. 31. The company has offered no other details about such transactions except to note the "sales process is well underway."

Today's Hess letter also accused Elliott Management of "pushing forward a self-serving agenda."

"Keep this in mind: Elliott's [board of director] nominees have agreed to receive direct and substantial special payments from Elliott and are structurally incentivized to support a plan most Wall Street analysts agree is value destructive and bad for Hess and its shareholders," the letter states.