Xerox to Declare First Dividend in Six Years

Xerox, the world's largest supplier of office printers and copiers, is expected to declare a 4.25 cents/share dividend, payable Jan. 31 for shareholders of record on Dec. 31, the Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition. The announcement, slated for Monday, marks the resumption of quarterly cash dividends after a hiatus of six years. The new dividend will be slightly less than the five-cent quarterly dividend Xerox last paid in 2001. That dividend had been cut from 20 cents a share the year before as Xerox struggled to deal with an accounting scandal, bloated costs and staggering debt. According to the Journal, Xerox CEO Anne Mulcahy, who has led its turnaround, will say in a prepared statement that "declaring a dividend and our continued share-repurchase initiatives reflect the health of our business and our belief in the long-term value we're creating for Xerox shareholders." On Thursday, Moody's Investors Service raised its rating on Xerox's $7.6 billion of debt and said the outlook for further upgrades is "positive." Xerox stock has been sluggish because investors remain concerned about the slow pace of sales growth. Moody's forecast is for "low single digit revenue growth" in 2008.

Sources: Wall Street Journal
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