Camera giant Eastman Kodak today slashed its dividend by 70 per cent amid an aggressive plan to reduce spending and its reliance on shrinking camera and film sales.
Following the announcement, Kodak shares fell about 8.5 per cent in pre-open trade on Instinet.
Kodak, the largest maker of photographic film, said it would lower its annual payout to 50 cents a share from $1.80, cutting its yield of 6.67 per cent based.
Kodak had the richest yield among the 30 stocks in the Dow Jones industrial average and ranked fourth among the stocks in the Standard & Poor's 500. This is the first cut in its payout in more than a century
The Rochester, New York-company said cutting its dividend would give the company financial flexibility as it shifts away from investing in film products and widens its range of digital products to consumer printers and medical imaging devices.
