HOUSTON, July 18, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- SYSCO Corporation (NYSE:SYY), North America's largest foodservice marketer and distributor, announced today that its Board of Directors has approved a 20-million-share repurchase program.
The approved program is SYSCO's fourteenth share repurchase program since fiscal 1992. SYSCO's previously approved 20-million-share repurchase program from November 2005 has approximately 1.8 million shares remaining. These remaining shares will be repurchased prior to the initiation of the new 20-million-share program. Under the new 20-million-share repurchase program, shares will be acquired in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions at the Company's discretion, subject to market conditions and other factors, and in accordance with applicable laws, rules and regulations.
"We consider our share repurchase program an important part of our investments," said Richard J. Schnieders, SYSCO's chairman and chief executive officer. "For the last 15 years, we have been able to return a total of approximately $8.2 billion to shareholders, consisting of approximately $5.2 billion in share repurchases and approximately $2.9 billion in dividend payouts."
SYSCO is the global leader in selling, marketing and distributing food products to restaurants, healthcare and educational facilities, lodging establishments and other customers that prepare meals away from home. Its family of products also includes equipment and supplies for the foodservice and hospitality industries. For calendar year 2006, the company generated $33.9 billion in sales. For more information about SYSCO visit www.sysco.com.
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