HOUSTON, Nov. 10, 2005 - SYSCO Corporation (NYSE:SYY), North America's largest foodservice marketer and distributor, today announced that the company's Board of Directors has approved a 13.3 percent increase in the quarterly cash dividend to $0.17 per share from the current $0.15 per share. The new dividend, which was declared today, is the 143rd consecutive announced payout by the company and is payable on January 27, 2006, to common shareholders of record at the close of business on January 6, 2006.
Richard J. Schnieders, SYSCO's chairman, chief executive officer and president, said, "This is the 37th dividend increase in SYSCO's 36-year history, a benchmark to which few public companies can attest. This announcement once again reflects the Board's continued confidence in SYSCO's ability to strategically reinvest in our business, produce consistent sales and earnings gains, generate strong cash flow performance and increase market share. We are pleased to continue to share the benefits of SYSCO's consistent growth and earnings performance with our shareholders, who to date have received approximately $2.4 billion in dividends since our founding."
The Board also approved a 20-million share repurchase program, which is SYSCO's thirteenth since fiscal 1992. The company completed eleven of those previous buyback programs and the current 20-million program -- which was announced in February 2005 -- has approximately 2.2 million shares remaining. These shares will be repurchased prior to the initiation of the new program. Under the new share repurchase program, shares will be acquired in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions at the Company's discretion, subject to market conditions and other factors, and in accordance with applicable laws, rules and regulations. Since 1992, SYSCO has returned $6.9 billion to shareholders in the form of share repurchases and dividends.
SYSCO is the largest foodservice marketing and distribution organization in North America, providing food and related products and services to approximately 390,000 restaurants, healthcare and educational facilities, lodging establishments and other foodservice customers. SYSCO's operations, supported by 47,500 associates, are located throughout the United States and Canada and include broadline companies, specialty produce and custom-cut meat operations, Asian cuisine foodservice distributors, hotel supply operations and chain restaurant distribution subsidiaries. For more information about SYSCO visit the company's Internet home page at www.sysco.com.
The SYSCO Corporation logo is available at: http://www.primezone.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=747