NEW YORK–Apple is opening the doors to its bank vault, saying it will distribute $100 billion in cash to its shareholders by the end of 2015.At the same time, the company said revenue for the current quarter could fall from the year before, which would be the first decline in many years.Apple CEO Tim Cook also suggested that the company won't release any new products until the fall, contrary to expectations that there would be a new iPhone and iPads out this summer.
Apple Inc. yesterday said it will expand its share buyback programme to US$60 billion –the largest buyback authorisation in history. It is also raising its dividend by 15 per cent from US$2.65 to US$3.05 per share. That equates to a dividend yield of three per cent at current stock prices.The average yield for the 20 largest dividend-paying companies in the US is 3.1 per cent, according to Standard & Poor's.
Investors have been clamouring for Apple to give them access to its cash hoard, which ended March at an unprecedented US$145 billion.News of the cash bonanza coincided with the company's release of a poor quarterly outlook for the three-month period that ends in June.Apple released its fiscal second quarter earnings after the stock market closed yesterday.
The company's stock initially rose five per cent to US$425 in extended trading, then retreated US$2.63, or 0.7 per cent, to US$403.50 as the CEO talked about new products arriving in the fall.The shares are still down 40 per cent from a peak of US$705.07 hit on September 21, when the iPhone 5 went on sale.
AP