IBM boosts dividend 10 pct, adds $3B for stock buyback

IBM boosts dividend 10 pct, adds $3B for buyback

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — IBM Corp. boosted its quarterly dividend by 10 percent Tuesday, a sign of the company’s health when others are cutting their payments to shareholders, and announced plans for a handful of “analytics centers” that could employ up to 4,000 people.

The stock gained $1.99, or 2 percent, to close at $101.94.

The cash dividend will increase 5 cents to 55 cents per share, and is payable June 10 to shareholders on record of May 8, the Armonk, N.Y.-based company said at its annual shareholder meeting in Miami Beach.

IBM also said its board has authorized another $3 billion for repurchasing stock, part of IBM’s long-term strategy for boosting earnings per share. That brings the total available for buying up shares to $6.7 billion.

The five new analytics centers will open this quarter. Three of them will be located in financial hubs — London, New York City and Tokyo — and will start with more than 100 consultants and mathematicians each. They will focus on financial risk.

Another in Washington will focus on helping government agencies track stimulus spending. The fifth will be in Beijing and will focus on the rail and transportation networks. The work done there will revolve around IBM’s major push for “smarter technologies,” which usually refers to sensors and software that collect real-time data on things like how power grids and traffic networks can operate more efficiently.

IBM said the centers will initially be staffed with IBM workers, but are expected to grow to up to 4,000 workers from inside and outside the company as demand grows.

IBM reported last week that its first-quarter profit slipped to $2.30 billion while sales fell 11 percent to $21.7 billion. The company backed its bullish 2009 outlook for profit of $9.20 per share.