Baltimore, MD, December 8, 2005 -- The Board of Directors of The Adams Express Company (NYSE: ADX) voted today to extend its share repurchase program and has authorized the repurchase of up to 5% of the outstanding shares of the Company's common stock over the next twelve months. Purchases will be made in the open market when the shares are trading at a discount of at least 10%. The Company's discount as of last night's market close was 14.2%.  As of December 8, 2005, the Company has 83,854,583 outstanding shares, which means that the Company is authorized by the Board to repurchase up to 4,192,729 shares over the ensuing year.

The Board has decided to continue the share repurchase program with the expectation that it will enhance shareholder value by increasing the net asset value of the Company's stock, reduce the modest dilutive impact on those shareholders who choose not to take capital gain distributions in additional shares, and increase the liquidity of the Company's shares in the marketplace. The repurchase program was initiated in November of 1999 and has been reauthorized by the Board each year since. Since the inception of the program, the Company has repurchased a total of 12,457,850 shares.

The Adams Express Company is a Baltimore-based closed-end investment company. It is traded on the New York Stock Exchange and Pacific Exchange.