Herbalife Ltd. Announces First Quarter Dividend
Herbalife Ltd. Announces First Quarter Dividend
The Company Authorizes New $300 Million Share Repurchase Program
Herbalife Ltd. today reported that its board of directors approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.20 per share to shareholders of record effective May 22, 2009, payable on June 5, 2009.
The company announced today that its board of directors authorized a new program for the company to repurchase up to $300 million of Herbalife common stock during the next two years, at such times and prices as determined by company management, as market conditions may warrant. The company's original share repurchase program, initially authorized on April 18, 2007 for $300 million, concluded on April 17, 2009. Under this program, the board of directors increased the authorization level to $450 million on August 23, 2007 and further increased the authorized amount to $600 million on May 20, 2008. During the period of this authorization, the company repurchased 13.7 million shares at an aggregate cost of $502.8 million, representing approximately 18 percent of the fully diluted share base since the initial authorization.
Michael O. Johnson, the company's chairman and chief executive officer, said, "We have a unique distributor-driven business model that is not fully appreciated by the investment community. The actions of the board reinforce our belief that our shares are undervalued at current prices, and that we are authorized to use excess cash, as appropriate, to repurchase our shares."
Two new board members, Pedro Cardoso and Murray H. Dashe, were each elected to the company's board for a three-year term. Additionally, Colombe Nicholas was reelected for an additional three-year term.
Cardoso has been an Herbalife independent distributor for 17 years and a member of the company's prestigious Chairman's Club since 2005. He built a successful organization of Herbalife independent distributors in more than 20 countries. He has been active in training Herbalife distributors around the world, and is a member of various strategy and planning groups for the company. He is also an active volunteer for the Herbalife Family Foundation. Prior to joining Herbalife, Cardoso served as the transportation supervisor of the Avon Company from 1990 - 1992. He received his degree in applied mathematics from the Autonomous University of Lisbon.
Dashe has been a member of the board of directors of Union Bank of California NA since 2006. He was a member of the board of directors of Longs Drug Stores Corporation from 2002 until November 2008 and served as its lead independent director from May 2006 through November 2008. From 1997 to 2005 he was with Cost Plus World Market where he most recently served as its chairman, president and chief executive officer. Dashe received his Bachelor of Arts in economics from Albright College and his Masters of Arts in industrial relations from Saint Francis University.
"We are pleased and proud to have Pedro Cardoso and Murray Dashe join our board," said Johnson. "Pedro's business skills and his perspective from many years of experience as a successful Herbalife independent distributor will be of great value to me and the board, as will Murray's experience as a former chairman, president and CEO, in addition to that of his outstanding business career."
First Quarter Earnings Conference Call
Herbalife's senior management team will host an investor conference call to discuss its first quarter 2009 financial results and provide an update on current business trends on Tuesday, May 5 at 8 a.m. PDT (11 a.m. EDT).
The dial-in number for this conference call for domestic callers is (866) 219-5268 and (703) 639-1120 for international callers. Live audio of the conference call will be simultaneously webcast in the Investor Relations section of the company's Web site at http://ir.herbalife.com.
An audio replay will be available following the completion of the conference call in MP3 format or b