Dec 21 2010
Emergent Group Inc. (NYSE Amex:LZR), a leading provider of mobile medical lasers and surgical equipment, today said that its Board of Directors has set a revised payment date of January 4, 2011 for the special and regular annual dividends totaling $0.90 per common share that it previously announced on December 7th for shareholders of record as of December 17, 2010.
While Emergent Group's Board typically announces annual dividend declarations in December and payment dates for the following January, this year's uncertainty surrounding a possible rise in 2011 federal dividend tax rates caused the Directors to set an original payment date of December 27, 2010. At the time, however, the Board reserved the right to move the payment date to January 2011 if the federal government did not increase dividend tax rates for 2011. The December 17th legislation signed by President Obama holds those rates at their current levels.
The Board's dividend declaration on December 7th was comprised of a special, one-time cash dividend of $0.50 per share on Emergent Group's common stock, as well as a regular annual dividend of $0.40 per share. Since 2005, the Board has declared cumulative regular and special cash dividends of $2.20 per share.