SCEcorp Slashes Stock Dividend by 30% : Utilities: The company blames uncertainties in the industry, including the PUC’s move toward deregulation.

In a move long predicted by analysts, SCEcorp, parent of Southern California Edison Co., announced Thursday that it will cut its stock dividend almost 30%, from $1.42 to $1 a share.

“To our regret, we have reached the conclusion that we don’t have the flexibility to maintain the dividend at the currently high level,” SCEcorp Chairman and Chief Executive John E. Bryson said.

He cited declining rates of return granted by state regulators, ongoing cash needs and potentially far-reaching changes in the electric utility business. All have brought “uncertainty about future earnings of the utility,” Bryson said.

Bryson had warned of a possible dividend cut in a March letter to shareholders. Electric utilities cut their dividends only with great reluctance because the dividend--not the prospect of stock price growth--is the main attraction for investors, many of whom plan their retirement around such investments.

But Edison and other big investor-owned California electric utilities have been hurt by rising interest rates and the uncertainties of a swiftly changing industry. In late April, utility stocks took an especially steep dive with news of the state Public Utilities Commission’s proposal for a wide-ranging deregulation of the electric utility industry--introducing retail competition as early as 1996.

SCEcorp shares, among the hardest hit, have fallen 46.6% since fall.

Thursday’s announcement was made after the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange, with SCEcorp shares unchanged at $13.75. The new rate affects dividends payable on July 31.

“For the near term, the dividend goes down,” said Steven M. Fetter, a senior vice president of Fitch Investors Service Inc., who applauded the move. “But if it allows SCEcorp to be more competitive, once competition comes about, SCEcorp could have actually strengthened its hand by taking this step. . . . Whether someone’s a shareholder or a bondholder, they want their company to be competitive.”

Bryson held forth the “potential” for future dividend increases, but said that “the most important single factor is that the (California Public Utilities Commission) regulatory proceedings reach reasonable outcomes.”