Argus Dividends Drop Due to Butterfield Deal
Bermudian insurance company Argus paid a reduced dividend to their shareholders in response to recent developments at the Butterfield Bank.
After seeing a loss of $213.4 million in 2009, the Bank of Butterfield received a $550 million capital infusion.
Investors included The Carlyle Group, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce [CIBC], Wellcome Trust, The Bermuda Government Pension Funds, Goshen Investments, LLC and self made billionaire Julian Robertson.
Argus’s dividend is reduced from a recent quarterly rate of 16 cents a share, to 10 cents a share.
They state that as Argus was a significant shareholder of the Bank of Butterfield the reduction in value of that investment and subsequent dilution of that shareholding caused by recent events necessitated a reduction in the Argus Group’s dividend.
The cash dividend of 10 cents a share is payable on April 15, 2010, to shareholders of record as of March 31, 2010. The currently declared dividend rate of 10 cents per share is supported by the earnings of the Argus Group’s core businesses.
President and CEO Gerald Simons said:
As a major provider of insurance and other financial services in this community, we take seriously our responsibility to balance the interests of all our stakeholders, particularly our customers and shareholders. We believe that this action achieves this goal.
Argus Group Holdings Limited is a multi-line insurance and financial services organisation offering a full range of insurance, pensions and investment products targeted at local and international organisations and individuals.
