DENVER—Qwest Communications International Inc. said Thursday it will begin issuing quarterly dividends in February for the first time since June 2001.
The dividend, equal to 8 cents a share, was authorized by the board of directors. It is part of the Denver-based telecommunications company’s plan to reward shareholders for staying loyal through the tumultuous years in wake of an accounting scandal.
The quarterly dividend will be payable on Feb. 28 to all stockholders of record on Feb. 1, and is expected to be paid in the future, Chief Executive Officer Edward Mueller said. About 1.8 billion shares of Qwest common stock were outstanding as of Oct. 26.
Mueller, who was appointed in August, is expected to provide more details about the dividend and his plans for Qwest Monday during a conference call with investors. He has spent the past four months reviewing the company’s operations.
The dividend comes a little more than a year after Qwest began a two-year program to repurchase up to $2 billion of its stock. The company expects to complete most of that buyback by the end of 2007.
Qwest restated about $2.2 billion in revenue in the wake of the accounting scandal.
Qwest announced the dividend after the market closed. Its stock dropped 12 cents, or 1.7 percent, to close at $6.96 a share Thursday.
