(The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation issued the following news release on July 22.)
FORT WORTH, Texas — Directors of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (NYSE: BNI) voted today, July 22, 2004, to increase BNSF’s next quarterly dividend by 13 percent, from 15 cents to 17 cents per share on outstanding common stock. This represents an annualized 68 cents per share dividend.
The dividend of 17 cents per share on common stock will be paid October 1, 2004, to shareholders of record September 10, 2004. Common shares outstanding on June 30, 2004, totaled approximately 372 million.
BNSF’s subsidiary, The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company, operates one of the largest railroad networks in North America, with about 32,500 route miles covering 28 states and two Canadian provinces. The railway is among the world’s top transporters of intermodal traffic, moves more grain than any other American railroad, transports the components of many of the products we depend on daily, and hauls enough coal to generate about ten percent of the electricity produced in the United States. BNSF is an industry leader in Web-enabling a variety of customer transactions at http://www.bnsf.com .