CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CME) today declared its annual variable dividend, amounting to $2.60 per share. The dividend is payable January 14, 2014, to shareholders of record December 27, 2013. When CME Group adopted its annual variable dividend structure in February 2012, the intention was to determine the excess cash available at the end of each year, with the level to increase or decrease from year to year based on operating results, potential investment activity and other forms of capital return.
The annual variable dividend of $2.60 per share to be paid in 2014 totals more than $872 million, and includes proceeds from the sale of the NYMEX building in New York as well as the gain from a recent interest rate hedge. CME Group paid its first annual variable dividend in March 2012, in the amount of $0.60 per share on a post-split basis, which equated to approximately $199 million based on excess cash at the end of 2011. Due to uncertainty related to dividend tax law, the excess cash at the end of 2012 was paid out on an accelerated basis in December 2012, in the amount of $1.30 per share, or $434 million. In addition, CME Group paid four quarterly dividends of $.45 per share in both 2012 and 2013, which amounts to approximately $1.2 billion over the two years. In total, including today's announced dividend, the company has delivered on its strong commitment to return capital to shareholders, with a total of more than $2.7 billion of dividends paid since the beginning of 2012.