DallasNews Corporation Announces Special Dividend and Voluntary Pension Contribution
August 22 2022 - 4:30PM
DallasNews Corporation (Nasdaq: DALN) announced today that its
Board of Directors has approved a special dividend of $1.50 per
share payable on September 30, 2022 to shareholders of record
at the close of business on September 9, 2022. The Board also
approved a voluntary contribution to the Company’s pension plans of
$5 million, which will be made prior to September 15, 2022.
On July 29, 2022, the Company received full payment of a note
related to the 2019 sale of its former headquarters campus in
Downtown Dallas. The total proceeds were $22.52 million, which
includes interest on the note. The amount of the special dividend
being paid on September 30, 2022 is approximately $8 million,
which combined with the voluntary pension plan contribution totals
approximately $13 million. The remainder of the cash
received from the headquarters note, approximately
$10 million, will be retained on the Company’s balance sheet
as DallasNews Corporation continues to make progress toward the
Company’s stated goal of becoming a sustainably profitable digital
media company.
Following payment of the special dividend, cash on the balance
sheet as of September 30, 2022 is projected to be
approximately $33 million.
The special dividend is the fifth in the past ten years. The
Company paid a special dividend of $0.96 per share in 2012,
$6.00 per share in 2014, $9.00 per share in 2015 and
$0.56 per share in 2017, in each case adjusted to reflect the
impact of the 2021 reverse stock split. In total,
$100.6 million in special dividends and $82.4 million in
regular dividends have been declared since DallasNews Corporation
became a separate company in 2008. The Board said it plans to
continue a quarterly dividend at the current rate of $0.16 per
share.
The voluntary contribution to the pension plans is the sixth
since 2008. The prior voluntary contributions amounted to
$84.6 million in total, and were made in 2011, 2012, 2013,
2014 and 2017. The pension plans are currently funded at
approximately 88 percent based on generally accepted
accounting principles.
Robert W. Decherd, DallasNews’ executive chairman, said, “From
the Company’s establishment in 2008, the directors have
consistently focused on returning capital to shareholders when
opportunities arise. We have been equally committed to improving
the funding of the Company’s pension plans, which we consider to be
a fundamental obligation to the men and women who devoted a
substantial part of their professional lives to DallasNews
Corporation and The Dallas Morning News.
“The Board regularly reviews a full range of choices for
allocating and distributing capital with the Company's investment
banking advisors, and will continue to do so.”
About DallasNews
Corporation
DallasNews Corporation is the Dallas-based holding company of
The Dallas Morning News and Medium Giant.
The Dallas Morning News is Texas’ leading daily
newspaper with a strong journalistic reputation, intense regional
focus and close community ties. Medium Giant is a media and
marketing agency of divergent thinkers who devise strategies that
deepen connections, expand influence, and scale success for clients
nationwide. For additional information,
visit dallasnewscorporation.com or
email invest@dallasnews.com.
Statements in this communication concerning DallasNews
Corporation’s business outlook or future economic performance,
revenues, expenses, cash balance and other financial
and non-financial items that are not historical facts are
“forward-looking statements” as the term is defined under
applicable federal securities laws. Words such as “anticipate,”
“believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “intend,” “expect,” “may,”
“project,” “plan,” “will,” “would” and their opposites and similar
expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and
other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those statements. Such risks, trends and uncertainties are, in
most instances, beyond the Company’s control, and include
changes in advertising demand and other economic conditions;
consumers’ tastes; newsprint prices; program costs; labor
relations; cybersecurity incidents; technological obsolescence; and
the current and future impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Among
other risks, there can be no guarantee that the board of directors
will approve a quarterly dividend in future quarters or that our
financial projections are accurate, as well as other risks
described in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K and
in the Company’s other public disclosures and filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements,
which are as of the date of this filing, are not updated to reflect
events or circumstances after the date of the statement.
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