CenturyLink's declares 72.5 cents per share quarterly dividend

 

The NewsStar

By Greg Hilburn

May 21, 201

 

CenturyLink’s board of directors announced Friday that it voted to declare a quarterly cash dividend of 72.5 cents per share payable on June 21, 2010, to shareholders of record on June 8, 2010.

The company’s annual shareholders meeting was at its headquarters in Monroe on Thursday.

CenturyLink, a Fortune 500 company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, employs about 1,400 workers at its Monroe headquarters with a local payroll exceeding $70 million.

The company more than tripled in size last year after closing a deal to buy Embarq Corp. and will double in size again when it closes a deal to buy Qwest Communications during the first half of next year.

Once the Qwest acquisition is complete, CenturyLink is expected to generate $20 billion in annual revenue and operate in 37 states.  “We’re well positioned for the future,” chief executive Glen Post told shareholders Thursday. “It’s a tremendous time of growth.”

Shareholders voted Thursday to officially change the company’s corporate name from CenturyTel to CenturyLink, even though the company has been marketing and branding itself as CenturyLink since last fall.

CenturyLink’s stocked closed at $33.25 Friday, up 32 cents.