Orthopedics products maker Stryker Corp. (SYK) said Friday that its chairman John Brown has decided to retire from the posts of chairman and director, effective December 31, but has agreed to serve as Chairman Emeritus from the new year. Brown will be succeeded by Stephen MacMillan, Stryker's President and CEO. Separately, the company said that its Board of Directors modified the dividend policy to adopt a quarterly payment schedule.
Brown joined the Kalamazoo, Michigan-based company as President and Chief Executive Officer in 1977 and served in those positions until 2003. He has been a director since 1977 and chairman of the board since 1981.
Announcing his decision, Brown said, "This timing is consistent with my original goal of providing a 5-year overlap with Steve MacMillan. The company has done very well under Steve's leadership as CEO since January 2005, in spite of the challenges in today's economy and the current healthcare environment. We are also extremely fortunate to have a group of strong board members."
As Chairman Emeritus, Brown will no longer play an active role with the company, but he will be available for consultation to the Board.
MacMillan will become chairman, in addition to his current responsibilities, effective January 1, 2010.
Meanwhile, the company said separately that its Board of Directors modified the company's dividend policy to pay dividends quarterly instead of annually. In conjunction with this change, the board declared a cash transition dividend of $0.10 per share, payable December 16 to shareholders of record on November 18.
The transition dividend will increase the total dividends paid in 2009 to $0.50 per share, up 52% from $0.33 per share paid in 2008. The company expects that the first quarterly dividend will be paid in January 2010 at a targeted quarterly rate of $0.15 per share.
Last week, Stryker Corp. reported a 16.4% drop in third-quarter profit, hit by restructuring charges. The company's net earnings for the third quarter dropped to $229.0 million from $273.8 million in the year-earlier quarter. On a per share basis, earnings slid to $0.58 from $0.67 in the year-ago quarter. Net sales were flat with last year at $1.65 billion.
SYK is currently trading at $46.91, down $0.33 or 0.70%, on 356,058 shares.
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