Cisco pays first-ever cash dividend
Network provider Cisco Systems has announced it will pay its first-ever cash dividend as a quarterly payment of $0.06 (£0.04) per share.
The payment is a sweetener for investors following slowing growth at the IT giant compared with peers such as Hewlett Packard and a growing cash pile.
Analysts said the dividend yield is 1.6 per cent was in line with expectations after it pledged to return cash to shareholders last September.
Cisco has resisted dividend payouts to investors, and has been held as a growth or technology stock alone, choosing to spend its cash on share buybacks and acquisitions instead.
But with $40bn in cash accumulated by the end of the past quarter, investors had added pressure on the company for a payout.
It also helps to allay investor concerns over the progression of the business. Cisco has seen its share price fall 35 per cent over the past year on fears that it is losing ground to competitors.