MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global technology and specialty materials company, has announced that its board of directors has approved a 17 percent increase in the company's quarterly common stock cash dividend, as per the company's press release.
The dividend increased from USD0.46 to USD0.54 per share of common stock on a quarterly basis and from USD1.84 to USD2.16 per share of common stock on an annual basis. The new dividend rate will be effective immediately.
"Increasing our dividend consistently is a key element of our strategy to maximize long-term value for our shareholders. Today's announcement marks the ninth consecutive year of dividend increases, and is both a reflection of our strong cash generation and confidence in the growth prospects for our business. During that period, the cash we have returned to shareholders through dividends has grown substantially to USD241 million in 2017, versus USD23 million in 2009," said Mark Rohr, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
Rohr continued, "Last year, we committed to increasing our dividend by at least 50% over the three-year period through 2019 with a targeted payout of USD300 million or more in 2019. This increase is the second of three annual steps to meet that goal."
The company also declared a quarterly cash dividend of USD0.54 per share on its Series A common stock, payable on May 10, 2018 to stockholders of record as of April 30, 2018.
We remind that, as MRC wrote before, Celanese will increase list and off-list selling prices for Ateva EVA polymers sold in the Americas. The price rise below will be effective 1 May, 2018, or as contracts otherwise allow. Thus, the company's EVA prices will go up by USD0.05/lb for the said regions.
Celanese Corporation is a global technology leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications. Based in Dallas, Celanese employs approximately 7,600 employees worldwide and had 2017 net sales of USD6.1 billion.
MRC