MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) (PARIS:WSO) announced today that its Board of Directors has declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of 25 cents on each outstanding share of its Common and Class B common stock. The cash dividend is payable on January 31, 2013 to shareholders of record at the close of business on January 25, 2013.
Watsco has paid dividends for over 35 consecutive years and has consistently paid increasing dividends over the last decade. In October 2012, given the uncertainty over government tax policy, Watsco’s Board of Directors approved the payment of a special dividend of $172 million ($5.00 per share), representing approximately two years of dividends based on the prior annual dividend rate of $2.48 per share.
Albert H. Nahmad, Watsco’s Chairman & Chief Executive Officer stated: “We expect 2013 to be another strong year of cash flow. In the short-term, we will repay some of the indebtedness that funded the special dividend and evaluate increasing the dividend before the end of the year. In the long-term, our philosophies for sharing increasing amounts of cash flow through higher dividends while maintaining a conservative financial position with continued capacity to make investments and build our network remain cornerstones of our company.”
Watsco improves indoor living and working environments with air conditioning and heating solutions that provide comfort regardless of the outdoor climate. Our solutions also promote healthier indoor spaces by removing pollutants from the indoor air that can lead to asthma, allergies and reductions in productivity. Furthermore, since heating and cooling accounts for approximately 56% of the energy consumed in a typical United States home, we offer consumers the greatest opportunity to save money on energy by replacing existing air conditioning and heating systems with more energy efficient and environmentally friendly solutions.
There are approximately 89 million central air conditioning and heating systems installed in the United States that have been in service for more than 10 years. Older systems often operate below today’s government mandated energy efficiency and environmental standards. Watsco has an opportunity to accelerate the replacement of these systems at a scale greater than our competitors as the movement toward reducing energy consumption and its environmental impact continues. We operate from more than 570 locations in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico, with additional market coverage on an export basis to Latin America and the Caribbean. As the industry leader, significant growth potential remains given that our current revenue run-rate is less than 10% of the estimated $35 billion marketplace in the Americas for HVAC/R products. Additional information about Watsco may be found at http://www.watsco.com.