MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr. 25, 2017--
Watsco, Inc. (NYSE: WSO) announced today that its Board of Directors has
approved a 19% increase in its annual dividend to $5.00 per share on
each outstanding share of its Common and Class B common stock. The
increase will be reflected in the Company’s next regular dividend
payment beginning in July 2017.
Albert H. Nahmad, Watsco’s Chairman & CEO stated: “We are pleased to be
able to increase dividends to our shareholders. This latest increase
reflects our confidence in the business and is supported by our
continued positive cash flow and our strong balance sheet.”
Watsco has paid dividends to shareholders for more than 40 consecutive
years. The Company’s philosophy is to share increasing amounts of cash
flow through higher dividends while maintaining a conservative balance
sheet with continued capacity to build its distribution network. Future
changes in dividends are considered in light of investment
opportunities, cash flow, general economic conditions and Watsco’s
overall financial condition.
About Watsco
Watsco improves indoor living and working environments with air
conditioning and heating solutions that provide comfort regardless of
the outdoor climate. There are approximately 92 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. This is especially important since heating and cooling
accounts for approximately half of the energy consumed in a typical U.S.
home.
Watsco’s traditional sales channel is through one of its 561 locations
in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico, and on an export
basis to Latin America and the Caribbean. This network has been built
over the last 25 years and serves 88,000 active customers. Watsco is
developing and investing in technologies to enable sales via e-commerce,
on-line marketplaces and through the retail sales channel. As the
industry leader, we believe that significant growth potential remains
given that the marketplace for HVAC/R products at the consumer level is
estimated to be $88 billion annually. Additional information about
Watsco may be found at http://www.watsco.com.
This document includes certain “forward-looking statements” within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as
“will,” “would,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “believe,” “plan,”
“optimistic,” “”goal” or “intend,” the negative of these terms and
similar references to future periods. These statements are based on
management's current expectations and are subject to uncertainty and
changes in circumstances. Actual results may differ materially from
these expectations due to changes in economic, business, competitive
market, new housing starts and completions, capital spending in
commercial construction, consumer spending and debt levels, regulatory
and other factors, including, without limitation, the effects of
supplier concentration, competitive conditions within Watsco’s industry,
seasonal nature of sales of Watsco’s products, the ability of the
Company to expand its business, insurance coverage risks and final GAAP
adjustments. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date the
statement was made. Watsco assumes no obligation to update
forward-looking information to reflect actual results, changes in
assumptions or changes in other factors affecting forward-looking
information, except as required by applicable law. Detailed information
about these factors and additional important factors can be found in the
documents that Watsco files with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
such as Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-K.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170425005419/en/
Source: Watsco, Inc.
Watsco, Inc.
Barry S. Logan, 305-714-4102
Senior Vice President
blogan@watsco.com