PriceSmart Announces
Semi-Annual Dividend
San Diego, California
(January 28, 2010) – PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ: PSMT) today announced that its
Board of Directors has declared cash dividends, in the total amount of $0.50
per share, $0.25 per share payable on February 26, 2010 to stockholders of
record as of the close of business on February 15, 2010, and $0.25 per
share payable on August 31, 2010 to stockholders of record as of the close of
business on August 13, 2010.
The Company anticipates
the ongoing payment of semi-annual dividends in subsequent periods, although
the actual declaration of future dividends, the amount of such dividends, and
the establishment of record and payment dates is subject to final determination
by the Board of Directors in its discretion, after its review of the Company’s
financial performance and anticipated capital requirements.
About PriceSmart
PriceSmart, headquartered
in San Diego, owns and operates U.S.-style membership shopping warehouse clubs
in Central America and the Caribbean, selling high quality merchandise at low
prices to PriceSmart members. PriceSmart now operates 26 warehouse clubs in 11
countries and one U.S. territory (five in Costa Rica; four in Panama; three
each in Guatemala and Trinidad, two each in Dominican Republic, El Salvador and
Honduras; and one each in Aruba, Barbados, Jamaica, Nicaragua and the United
States Virgin Islands).
This
press release may contain forward-looking statements concerning the Company's
anticipated future revenues and earnings, adequacy of future cash flow and
related matters. These forward looking statements include, but are
not limited to, statements containing the words "expect,“ "believe,“
"will,“ "may,“ "should,“ "project,” "estimate,“
"scheduled,“ and like expressions, and the negative
thereof. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties
that could cause actual results to differ materially, including the following
risks: the Company’s financial performance is dependent on international operations
which exposes the Company to various risks; any failure by the Company to
manage its widely dispersed operations could adversely affect the Company’s
business; the Company faces significant competition; the Company faces
difficulties in the shipment of and inherent risks in the importation of
merchandise to its warehouse clubs; the Company is exposed to weather and other
risks associated with international operations; declines in the economies of
the countries in which the Company operates its warehouse clubs would harm its
business; a few of the Company's stockholders own nearly 40% of the Company's
voting stock, which may make it difficult to complete some corporate
transactions without their support and may impede a change in control; the loss
of key personnel could harm the Company’s business; the Company is subject to
volatility in foreign currency exchange; the Company faces the risk of exposure
to product liability claims, a product recall and adverse publicity; a
determination that the Company's long-lived or intangible assets have been
impaired could adversely affect the Company's future results of operations and
financial position; and the Company faces increased compliance risks associated
with compliance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002; as well as
the other risks detailed in the Company's SEC reports, including the Company's
Annual Report on Form 10-K filed pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of
1934 on November 9, 2009. We assume no obligation and expressly
disclaim any duty to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or
circumstances after the date of this presentation or to reflect the occurrence
of unanticipated events.
For further information,
please contact Robert E. Price, Chief Executive Officer (858) 551‑2336;
or John M. Heffner, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (858)
404-8826.