infoUSA Inc. Telegraphs Results

infoUSA (IUSA) announced after market close on Friday that its Board of Directors has declared a dividend of $0.35 per share payable March 5, 2008 to shareholders of record Feb 18, 2008. It also announced that it would let you know what the profits are after market close on Jan 31 [Thursday] with the conference call scheduled after Market close on Feb 1 [Friday]. Monday the stock was off about 3% in a down market.

The announcement is three weeks before the record date. Was management trying to embed the dividend value into the stock price? How can investors fathom what is truly going on within the company? Dividends are payable from profits. By declaring a dividend one week before releasing the real numbers for the entire company, you are sending messages into the market place.

So the question becomes: Is this a good dividend or a bad dividend? Also, if the company adheres to a dividend payout ratio as a stated or implied policy, has the company just tipped its hand and told everyone what is happening?

Dividends should be announced after earnings are reported. You can do it on the same day following the earnings release. But a week in advance... Who are we kidding?