Meredith Sets Dividend, Raises Estimates

The Meredith Corp. yesterday declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.3825 per share, or $1.53 on an annual basis. The dividend will be payable on Dec. 14 to shareholders of record on Nov. 30.

Meredith has a history of returning cash to shareholders, paying a dividend for 65 consecutive years, and increasing it 19 straight years. Meredith’s calendar 2012 dividend of $1.53 represents a 33% increase over the prior year. Over the last 10 years, Meredith has grown its dividend at an average annualized rate of 16%.

Meredith also announced today that it now expects second quarter fiscal 2013 earnings per share to range from $0.85 to $0.90 based on stronger than anticipated political advertising at Meredith’s Local Media Group. Previously, Meredith expected second quarter earnings per share of $0.80 to $0.85. The rest of Meredith’s businesses are performing as expected for the second quarter of fiscal 2013.

Meredith continues to expect full fiscal 2013 earnings per share to range from $2.60 to $2.95. The company said it “has very limited visibility into calendar 2013 advertising budgets and the advertising marketplace remains volatile.”

At yesterday’s annual shareholders meeting, James R. Craigie, Frederick B. Henry, and Joel W. Johnson were reelected to the board by Meredith shareholders, each for three-year terms expiring in 2015. Donald C. Berg, EVP-CFO of Brown-Forman Corp., was elected for a two-year term expiring in 2014.

“I am proud to reaffirm Meredith’s commitment to our Total Shareholder Return strategy and returning cash to shareholders as demonstrated by our ongoing strong dividend program,” said Meredith Chairman-CEO Stephen M. Lacy. “We are also very pleased with the continued excellent performance of our Local Media Group.”