PARK ELECTROCHEMICAL CORP. ANNOUNCES ONE-TIME SPECIAL DIVIDEND AND INCREASES QUARTERLY CASH DIVIDEND
LAKE SUCCESS, New York, October 25th, 2004…Park Electrochemical Corp. (NYSE-PKE) announced that its Board of Directors has declared a one-time, special cash dividend of $1.00 per share and approved an increase in Park’s quarterly cash dividend from the current rate of $0.06 per share to $0.08 per share.
The one-time, special cash dividend of $1.00 per share is payable December 15, 2004 to stockholders of record at the close of business on November 15, 2004.
The Board of Directors also declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share payable February 8, 2005 to stockholders of record at the close of business on January 6, 2005, consistent with the Company’s historic schedule of regular quarterly dividends. This new quarterly dividend represents a 33% increase over the $0.06 per share quarterly dividend paid by Park since 2000, when it increased its quarterly dividend from $0.0533 to $0.06 in connection with a 3-for-2 stock split.
These dividends are in addition to the regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.06 per share that the Company announced on September 16, 2004 payable November 2, 2004 to stockholders of record on October 5, 2004.
Brian Shore, Park’s President and CEO, said, “The increase in our regular quarterly dividend is a reflection of our commitment to our future as a business, rather that any particular comment about the condition of the global electronics industry. The global electronics industry certainly continues to be a major challenge, and that probably will never change. Nevertheless, we are committed to doing everything within our power to see to it that Park has a future and a bright future at that.”
Brian Shore continued, “The one dollar per share special dividend represents a distribution to our shareholders of the lion’s share of the net after-tax recovery from the Delco litigation which concluded in the summer of 2003. Although I feel no ill will or bitterness towards Delco, we felt that our company was wronged, and we felt that we needed to do what was necessary to right the wrong for our company and for our shareholders. To me, it was more important that we did our best to right the wrong for our company and our shareholders than whether we won or lost the lawsuit. The lawsuit was never about vengeance or getting back at Delco. As I said, the lawsuit was simply about righting what we believed to be a wrong. Since we did prevail in the lawsuit, I believe it is very appropriate that we distribute to our shareholders the lion’s share of the net after-tax recovery from the lawsuit. In any event, this special dividend brings closure to the entire Delco episode, and we have moved on. I would like to thank you, our shareholders, for your understanding and support while we worked through the difficult and demanding litigation process.”
Park Electrochemical Corp. is a leading global designer and producer of electronic materials used to fabricate complex multilayer printed circuit boards and interconnection systems. Park specializes in advanced materials for high layer count circuit boards and high-speed digital and RF/Microwave electronic systems. Park also designs and manufactures advanced composite materials for the aerospace, military and industrial markets. The Company’s manufacturing facilities are located in Singapore, China, France, Connecticut, New York, Arizona and California.
Additional corporate information is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.parkelectro.com.