"Apple to pay dividend for first time since 1995"

TECHNOLOGY»APPLEApple said it plans to pay a dividend for the first time since 1995 as the iPad maker start spending its almost $100bn (£63bn) cash pile.

The Californian will pay a quarterly dividend of $2.65 a share sometime in the fourth quarter of this year. Alongside the dividend, Apple also plans a $10bn share buyback programme beginning later this year.

 

"We can maintain a war chest for strategic opportunities and have plenty of cash to run our business," said Tim Cook, Apple's chief executive. "So we are going to initiate a dividend and share repurchase programme."

The decision is the latest evidence of Tim Cook stamping his mark on a company that co-founder Steve Jobs rescued from near bankruptcy in 1997. The success Mr Jobs had in fashioning the iPhone and iPad has left Apple under increasing pressure from shareholders to begin to use the cash pile it has accumulated.

Returning cash to investors, who have already seen Apple's shares surge almost 50pc this year, is a departure from the strategy of Mr Jobs, who was resistant to the idea. The last time Apple paid a dividend was in 1995, when it finished the year with just under $500m in cash. Mr Cook said that Apple's board had been discussing how to use the cash in recent weeks.

More than half of Apple's cash is held outside the US and is unlikely to be deployed because the company would have to pay tax on it. Apple said the dividend and share buyback plan will use about $45bn of the company's cash pile.