St Jude Medical announces latest quarterly dividend increase

St Jude Medical has announced a new quarterly dividend increase to 25 cents (16.5 pence) per common share.

The medical technology firm's board of directors has approved this nine percent increase in light of the company's recent growth, with the latest move representing the second rise in its dividend since it was initiated in 2011.

Shareholders of record on March 29th 2013 will receive their dividend payment on April 30th, with the firm's annual dividend now coming to $1.00 per share, compared to the previous yearly rate of $0.92 per share.

St Jude Medical's chairman, president and chief executive officer Daniel Starks said the new development "further demonstrates our commitment to returning value to our shareholders as we continue to focus on growing our business".

According to its financial report from last month, St Jude Medical generated net sales of $5.5 billion in 2012.

Though this was slightly down on 2011, Mr Starks nevertheless expressed confidence that strong growth in terms of earnings per share will be achieved by the company in 2013.