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In each of the first three quarters of 2003, CME paid a quarterly dividend of 14 cents per share. With its new dividend policy, announced in September 2003-which raised its annual dividend target to 30 percent of the prior year's cash earnings, compared with the previous target of approximately 20 percent-the company raised its dividend to 21 cents in the fourth quarter of 2003. Based on an increase in cash earnings from $88 million in 2002 to $113 million in 2003, CME is raising its dividend, again, to 26 cents per share, for the first quarter of 2004. The amount and payment of any dividend in the future remains subject to the discretion of the Board of Directors.
Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc. became the first publicly traded U.S. financial exchange on December 6, 2002. The company was added to the Russell 1000® Index on July 1, 2003. It is the parent company of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. (www.cme.com), the largest futures exchange in the United States. As an international marketplace, CME brings together buyers and sellers on its trading floors and GLOBEX® electronic trading platform. CME offers futures contracts and options on futures primarily in four areas: interest rates, stock indexes, foreign exchange, and commodities. The exchange moved approximately $1.4 billion per day in settlement payments in 2003 and managed $37.6 billion in collateral deposits at December 31, 2003, including $1.5 billion in deposits for non-CME products.
