Blyth, Inc. Announces Special Cash Dividend of $1.00 Per Share
January 19 2010 - 8:00PM
PR Newswire (US)
GREENWICH, Conn., Jan. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Blyth, Inc.
(NYSE: BTH), a leading multi-channel designer and marketer of home
fragrance products, home decor products and household convenience
items, today announced that its Board of Directors has declared a
special cash dividend of $1.00 per share on the Company's common
stock, for a total dividend payment of approximately $8.9 million.
The special dividend will be payable to shareholders of record as
of February 2, 2010 and will be paid on February 16, 2010. The
special dividend declared today is in addition to regular
semi-annual dividends paid this fiscal year ending January 31, 2010
totaling $0.20 per share on the Company's common stock. Therefore,
Blyth will declare total dividends this fiscal year of $1.20 per
share, or approximately $10.7 million. Robert B. Goergen, Blyth's
Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "This
year we took a conservative approach to our regular dividend
payments in spite of our strong cash position and balance sheet. We
have now reevaluated our dividend payment based on Blyth's cash
flow, the retirement of approximately $25 million of 7.9% senior
notes last October and general economic conditions. The Board of
Directors believes dividends represent an important element in
support of our goal to deliver long-term returns to our
shareholders. " Mr. Goergen continued, "The Company has no plans at
this time to change its regular semi-annual dividend rate. However,
we will continue to evaluate our dividend payment based on the
Company's financial position, earnings outlook and the general
macroeconomic environment." Blyth, Inc., headquartered in
Greenwich, CT, USA, is a Home Expressions company that markets an
extensive array of home fragrance products, decorative accessories,
seasonal decorations and household convenience items. The Company
sells its products through multiple channels of distribution,
including the home party plan method of direct selling and
one-on-one direct selling, as well as through the wholesale and
catalog/Internet channels. Blyth also markets tabletop lighting and
chafing fuel for the Away From Home or foodservice trade. The
Company manufactures most of its candles and chafing fuel and
sources nearly all of its other products. Its products are sold
direct to the consumer under the PartyLite®, Two Sisters Gourmet®
by PartyLite and ViSalus Sciences® brands, to retailers in the
premium and specialty retail channels under the Colonial Candle®,
CBK® and Seasons of Cannon Falls® brands, to retailers in the mass
retail channel under the Sterno® brand, to consumers in the
catalog/Internet channel under the As We Change®, Miles Kimball®,
Exposures®, Walter Drake®, The Home Marketplace®, Easy Comforts®
and Boca Java® brands, and to the Foodservice industry under the
Sterno®, Ambria® and HandyFuel® brands. In Europe, Blyth's products
are also sold under the PartyLite brand. Blyth, Inc. may be found
on the Internet at http://www.blyth.com/. This press release
contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking
statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals,
strategies, future events or performance and underlying assumptions
and other statements that are other than statements of historical
facts. Actual results could differ materially due to various
factors, including the slowing of the United States or European
economies or retail environments, the risk that we will be unable
to maintain our historic growth rate, our ability to respond
appropriately to changes in product demand, the risk that we will
be unable to integrate the businesses that we acquire into our
existing operations, the risks (including foreign currency
fluctuations, economic and political instability, transportation
delays, difficulty in maintaining quality control, trade and
foreign tax laws and others) associated with international sales
and foreign sourced products, risks associated with our ability to
recruit new independent sales consultants, our dependence on key
corporate management personnel, risks associated with the sourcing
of raw materials for our products, competition in terms of price
and new product introductions, risks associated with our
information technology systems (including, susceptibility to
outages due to fire, floods, power loss, telecommunications
failures, computer viruses, break-ins and similar events) and other
factors described in this press release and in the Company's Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the year ended January 31, 2009.
DATASOURCE: Blyth, Inc. CONTACT: Robert H. Barghaus, Chief
Financial Officer, +1-203-661-1926, ext. 6668 or Tyler P.
Schuessler, Vice President, Investor Relations and Organizational
Development, +1-203-661-1926, ext. 6643 Web Site:
http://www.blyth.com/
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