St Jude Medical to initiate regular cash dividend payments

St Jude Medical has announced that it is to begin paying a regular quarterly cash dividend to its shareholders.

The medical technology firm's board of directors has approved the move based on the strong recent fiscal performance of the business, with an initial payment of $0.21 (13 pence) to be offered to stockholders on April 29th 2011.

Daniel Starks, the company's chairman, president and chief executive officer, said St Jude Medical is now in a position where it is able to pay this dividend while maintaining investment in research and development, acquisitions and share repurchasing.

He explained that the announcement is reflective of the board's confidence in the firm's "growth potential, pipeline, strong balance sheet and cash flows".

"St Jude Medical is committed to rewarding its shareholders through value creation," added Mr Starks.

In January 2011, the company published its financial report for 2010, during which it generated $5.17 billion in sales, a year-on-year increase of ten percent.