Ford brings back dividend after 5-year break

Ford Motor Company has announced it is bringing back its regular divident after a five-year pause.

The company said it will pay a quarterly divident payment of 5 cents a share on its common stock and Class B shares. The first dividend will be paid on March 1 2012. Ford suspended its dividend in 2006, when quarterly losses and shrinking market share determined then-CEO Bill Ford Jr. to bring in a new CEO, former Boeing executive Alan Mulally, to manage the restructuring of the company.

Unline General Motors and Chrysler, Ford was the only big American automaker that didn’t need to be bailed out by the federal government, a major source of pride for the company. „The board believes it is important to share the benefits of our improved financial performance with our shareholders. We are pleased to reinstate a quarterly dividend, as it is an important sign of our progress in building a profitably growing company and our confidence in the future,” said executive chairman Bill Ford.

Ford’s increasing profits can support a dividend that will cost the company $760 million a year. In the first nine months of the year, Ford posted a profit of $6.6 billion, up 3 percent over the same period in 2010. Revenue increased 9 percent to $4.3 billion.

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• Thai floods damaged Ford’s 2011 profits
• Ford denies searching for a new CEO outside the company
• U.S. Auto Sales: Ford rises 13 percent in November
• Romania: Ford B-MAX starts at EUR13,400
• Recall roundup: 2012 Ford Focus
• Ohio to announce tax breaks for Ford
• Ford’s 1.0 liter EcoBoost to develop 180 HP