Contact Information: CONTACTS: Costco Wholesale Corporation Richard Galanti 425/313-8203 Bob Nelson 425/313-8255 Jeff Elliott 425/313-8264
Costco Wholesale Corporation Announces an Increase in Its Quarterly Cash Dividend
| Source: Costco
ISSAQUAH, WA--(Marketwire - April 28, 2009) - Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ : COST )
today announced that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash
dividend on Costco Wholesale common stock and approved a quarterly increase
from $.16 to $.18 per share, or $.72 per share on an annualized basis. The
dividend of $.18 per share is payable May 29, 2009, to shareholders of
record at the close of business on May 15, 2009.
Costco currently operates 554 warehouses, including 407 in the United
States and Puerto Rico, 76 in Canada, 21 in the United Kingdom, six in
Korea, five in Taiwan, eight in Japan and 31 in Mexico. The Company also
operates Costco Online, an electronic commerce web site, at www.costco.com
and at www.costco.ca in Canada. The Company plans to open an additional
seven new warehouses and close two Home Stores prior to the end of its 2009
fiscal year on August 30, 2009.
Certain statements contained in this document constitute forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995. For these purposes, forward-looking statements are statements
that address activities, events, conditions or developments that the
Company expects or anticipates may occur in the future. Such
forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause
actual events, results or performance to differ materially from those
indicated by such statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but
are not limited to, domestic and international economic conditions
including exchange rates, the effects of competition and regulation,
uncertainties in the financial markets, consumer and small business
spending patterns and debt levels, conditions affecting the acquisition,
development, ownership or use of real estate, actions of vendors, rising
costs associated with employees (including health care and workers'
compensation costs), rising costs associated with the acquisition of
merchandise (including the direct and indirect effects of the rising cost
of petroleum-based products and fuel and energy costs), geopolitical
conditions and other risks identified from time to time in the Company's
public statements and reports filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission.