NEWTON, Iowa, May 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Maytag Corporation
(NYSE: MYG) board of directors today declared a quarterly dividend of 9 cents
a share on the firm's common stock. The quarterly dividend is payable June
15, 2005, to shareowners of record at the close of business June 1, 2005.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000505/MYGLOGO )
Maytag Chairman and CEO Ralph Hake said, "Today's decision by the board to
immediately reduce the dividend by 50 percent should allow the company more
financial flexibility to fund our restructuring plan and to have additional
cash available for debt reduction and pension funding. Also, the additional
cash will be invested in our business as we step up our advertising and R&D
expenses in the second half of 2005 with the many new product introductions
that are planned.
"The decision to reduce the dividend was not taken lightly," Hake noted.
"The board understands the importance of the dividend to our shareholders;
however, it is essential that our dividend payout is more in line with current
earnings trends."
Hake explained that over the balance of this year, Maytag will be
finalizing its plan to restructure certain manufacturing operations and
determining the investments necessary to support these initiatives. "These
actions may require asset write-offs and accelerated depreciation as well as
cash costs and investments," he said. "We are currently seeking a new credit
agreement that will provide us substantially more covenant flexibility and
funding stability to meet our financing requirements. We have received
financing commitments from banks for multi-year credit facilities and expect
to replace our current agreement with a new facility during the second quarter
2005."
Maytag Corporation is a leading producer of home and commercial
appliances. Its products are sold to customers throughout North America and
in international markets. The corporation's principal brands include
Maytag(R), Hoover(R), Jenn-Air(R), Amana(R), Dixie-Narco(R) and Jade(R).
Forward-Looking Statements: Certain statements in this news release,
including any discussion of management expectations for future periods,
constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements
involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may
cause actual results to differ materially from the future results expressed or
implied by those statements. For a description of such factors, refer to
"Forward-Looking Statements" in the Management's Discussion and Analysis
section of Maytag's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended January 1,
2005, and each quarter's 10-Q.
SOURCE Maytag Corporation
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Related links:
http://www.maytagcorp.com
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AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
CONTACT:
Media, John Daggett of Maytag Corporate
Communications, +1-641-787-7711, jdagge@maytag.com
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