MONTREAL — Power Corp. of Canada is raising its quarterly dividend by 20 per cent, the holding company announced Friday along with its first-quarter financial report, which included higher net income despite lower investment gains.
The dividend to be paid on Power Corp.'s participating preferred and subordinate voting shares will rise by 4.875 cents per share to 29 cents per share per quarter, or $1.16 on an annualized basis.
Net income was $376-million, or 80 cents per share, in the first quarter compared with up from $363-million, or 78 cents per share, in the first quarter of 2007. Of that amount, $72-million, or 16 cents per share, came from non-operating earnings at Power Financial, its main subsidiary.
Excluding that contribution, the parent company's operating earnings for the quarter ended March 31, were $304-million, or 64 cents per share, compared with $363-million, or 78 cents per share, in the corresponding period of 2007.
Power attributed the decline in operating earnings to a lower level of income from investments in 2008. In 2007, the corporation had substantial gains from the Sagard 1 Fund in Europe and its QFII operations in China.
The management and holding company's subsidiaries include Power Financial Corp., Power Technology Investment Corp. and Gesca Ltée.
© Canadian Press
