PHILADELPHIA, March 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ Sovereign Bancorp, Inc.
("Sovereign") (NYSE: SOV), parent company of Sovereign Bank, announced today
that its Board of Directors has declared a cash dividend increase of 33% on
its common stock. The increase will result in a quarterly cash dividend of
$0.04 per share and an annual cash dividend of $.16 per share. The regular
quarterly cash dividend is payable on May 16, 2005 to common stock
shareholders of record on May 2, 2005.
"This dividend increase is an affirmation of the Board's confidence in
Sovereign's ability to generate a significant amount of excess capital in the
near-term. Sovereign remains committed to previously stated capital goals.
The Board will also consider additional increases to our dividend in future
quarters," stated Jay S. Sidhu, Sovereign's Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer.
In addition to the common stock cash dividend, a dividend payment of
$0.546875 per share is payable on March 31, 2005 on Sovereign's Preferred
Securities issued by Sovereign Capital Trust III (NYSE: SOVPRA) to holders of
record on March 30, 2005.
Sovereign Bancorp, Inc., ("Sovereign") (NYSE: SOV), is the parent company
of Sovereign Bank, a $59 billion financial institution with more than 650
community banking offices, over 1,000 ATMs and approximately 9,500 team
members in the Northeast United States. Sovereign offers a broad array of
financial services and products including retail banking, business and
corporate banking, cash management, capital markets, trust and wealth
management and insurance. Sovereign is the 18th largest banking institution in
the United States. For more information on Sovereign Bank, visit
http://www.sovereignbank.com or call 1-877-SOV-BANK.
Note: "Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Statements in this press release regarding Sovereign
Bancorp's business which are not historical facts are "forward-looking
statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such
risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual future events to differ from
those contained in the forward-looking statements, see "Forward-Looking
Statements" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the most
recently ended fiscal year.
SOURCE Sovereign Bancorp, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.sovereignbank.com
CONTACT:
FINANCIAL: Jim Hogan, +1-610-320-8496, or
jhogan@sovereignbank.com, or Mark McCollom, +1-610-208-6426, or
mmccollo@sovereignbank.com, or Stacey Weikel, +1-610-208-6112, or
sweikel@sovereignbank.com; or MEDIA: Ed Shultz, +1-610-378-6159,
or eshultz1@sovereignbank.com, all of Sovereign Bancorp
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