Costco Wholesale Corporation Announces an Increase in Its Quarterly Cash Dividend
ISSAQUAH, WA--(Marketwire - April 29, 2008) - Costco Wholesale Corporation ("Costco")
(NASDAQ: COST) today announced that its Board of Directors has declared a
quarterly cash dividend on Costco Wholesale common stock and approved an
increase from $.145 to $.16 per share each quarter, or $.64 per share on an
annualized basis. The dividend of $.16 per share declared today is payable
May 30, 2008, to shareholders of record at the close of business on May 16,
2008.
Costco currently operates 536 warehouses, including 392 in the United
States and Puerto Rico, 75 in Canada, 19 in the United Kingdom, six in
Korea, five in Taiwan, eight in Japan and 31 in Mexico. The Company also
operates Costco Online, an electronic commerce web site, at www.costco.com
and at www.costco.ca in Canada. The Company plans to open an additional 12
to 13 new warehouses (including the relocation of four to five warehouses
to larger and better-located facilities) prior to the end of its 2008
fiscal year on August 31, 2008.
Certain statements contained in this document constitute forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995. For these purposes, forward-looking statements are statements
that address activities, events, conditions or developments that the
Company expects or anticipates may occur in the future. Such
forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause
actual events, results or performance to differ materially from those
indicated by such statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but
are not limited to, domestic and international economic conditions
including exchange rates, the effects of competition and regulation,
uncertainties in the financial markets, consumer and small business
spending patterns and debt levels, conditions affecting the acquisition,
development, ownership or use of real estate, actions of vendors, rising
costs associated with employees (including health care and workers'
compensation costs), rising costs associated with the acquisition of
merchandise (including the direct and indirect effects of the rising cost
of petroleum-based products and fuel and energy costs), geopolitical
conditions and other risks identified from time to time in the Company's
public statements and reports filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
Contact Information: CONTACTS:
Costco Wholesale Corporation
Richard Galanti
425/313-8203
Bob Nelson
425/313-8255
Jeff Elliott
425/313-8264