MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Board of Directors of A. Schulman, Inc., a global plastic supplier, has declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of USD0.20 per common share, payable November 4, 2013, to shareholders of record on October 28, 2013, according to the company's press release.
This represents a 2.6% increase over the prior quarter's dividend payout. The dividend on an annualized basis now stands at USD0.80 per share, and represents a yield of approximately 3%.
"This increase to our dividend reflects the strength of our balance sheet, the ability of our operations to generate significant cash flow - USD183 million over the last two years - and our long-term growth prospects. We are pleased to provide this increase to our dividend, and to continue our unbroken track record of consistently providing dividends to our shareholders, going back to when we became a public company in 1972," said Joseph M. Gingo, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of A. Schulman.
Under A. Schulman's current USD100 million share repurchase program, the company has acquired 2.2 million shares since inception through August 31, 2013, and has US56.6 million remaining under the program.
We remind that, as MRC wrote previously, in mid-2012 A. Schulman Inc. inked a definitive agreement to acquire ECM Plastics, a privately owned plastics compounder located in Worcester, Mass., for USD36.5 million. Besides, Jeddah-based National Petrochemical Industrial Company (Natpet), a subsidiary of Alujain Corporation, entered into a joint venture agreement with A. Schulman to produce polypropylene compounds.
A. Schulman is a global plastics supplier, headquartered in Akron, Ohio, and a leading international supplier of high-performance plastic compounds and resins, which are used as raw materials in a variety of markets. A. Schulman has 33 manufacturing facilities globally. A. Schulman's fiscal third-quarter earnings fell 69% amid continued sluggishness in European markets and higher-than-expected costs in Latin America, where the company has been consolidating its Brazilian operations.
MRC