Dentsply announces 11 per cent increase in existing dividend

Dentsply International was one of few companies to record an increase in dividends in September.

The company reported a quarterly cash dividend of five cents (three pence) per share of common stock, which indicates an annual rate of 20 cents (11 pence) per share.

The figure represents an increase of around 11 per cent in the existing dividend while the dividend achiever presently yields approximately 0.5 per cent.

In a month described on iStockAnalyst as “the worst September for dividends since we started keeping dividend records in 1956” by Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at Standard & Poor’s, Dentsply’s figures were highlighted as one of a few “bright spots” in the market.

Bret W Wise, chairman and chief executive officer of Dentsply, said the company “continues to perform very well in 2008 with continued strong growth in earnings, despite difficult economic circumstances”.

Dentsply’s products include the Stylus ATC and CeramX.