Houston-based Dynegy Inc. said its board of directors has elected not to pay a dividend on the company’s Class A or Class B common stock for the third quarter of this year.

In an 8-K reported filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), it said payments of dividends for subsequent periods will be at the discretion of the board, and it does not foresee the dividend being reinstated “in the near term.”

As part of an ambitious restructuring plan, Dynegy announced in late June that it planned to cut the company’s dividend in half beginning in the third quarter to save about $56 million (See Daily GPI, June 25). The company has paid a quarterly dividend of 7.5 cents a share in the past two years.

The plan, which was designed to boost Dynegy’s liquidity by $2 billion and carry it safely into 2003, also called for the reduction of almost $300 million in controversial ratings triggers, and the securing of partners for its prized pipeline asset, Northern Natural Gas Co., and gas storage facilities in the United Kingdom. Dynegy has since decided to sell Northern Natural outright to Berkshire Hathaway’s MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. for $928 million in cash and the assumption of $950 million in outstanding debt.

©Copyright 2002 Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news report may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in any form, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.