Textron cuts dividend to 2 cents per share

PROVIDENCE – Textron Inc. reduced its quarterly dividend by 91 percent to 2 cents a share to conserve cash following a steep fourth-quarter loss, Bloomberg News reported last month.
Textron, the maker of Cessna aircraft and Bell helicopters, had been paying a quarterly dividend of 23 cents a share, according to Bloomberg data. The reduced payment follows a fourth-quarter loss from continuing operations of $348 million, or $1.44 a share, and a 2009 profit forecast made in January that was below analysts’ expectations.
The company also said it will pay a 52-cent dividend on each share of Textron’s $2.08 Cumulative Convertible Preferred Stock Series A and 35 cents a share on the $1.40 Convertible Preferred Dividend Stock Series B.
Industrywide deliveries of aircraft excluding military and commercial planes declined in 2008 for the first time in five years as production slowed amid weakening orders. Shipments worldwide fell 7.1 percent to 3,969 aircraft last year, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association said Feb. 17. &#8226