Steelmaking surge leads to higher dividend from Cliffs

Cliffs Natural Resources’ Board of Directors has voted to increase the quarterly cash dividend on the company’s common shares by 60 percent.

The 14 cents per share dividend (up from 0.0875 cents) will be payable on June 1 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on Friday.

“Cliffs’ outlook for cash flow generation has improved substantially with the rebounding demand for steelmaking raw materials,” Laurie Brlas, Cliffs’ executive vice president and chief financial officer, said in a news release. “This provides the company increased confidence to increase its cash payouts to Cliffs’ shareholders, while at the same time continuing to pursue strategic objectives.”

Cliffs’ revenue was 57 percent higher during the first three months of this year than during the same quarter of 2009.

In April, Cliffs reported a first-quarter 2010 net income of $93.5 million compared to a net loss of $7.4 million in the first quarter of 2009. The company sold 4.4 million tons of iron ore pellets during the first quarter of this year, a 116 percent increase over the same time last year.

Cliffs owns all or part of Hibbing Taconite, Northshore Mining and United Taconite and the Empire and Tilden mines in Michigan.

Tags: iron range, news, business, money, shipping, mining, chamber