SureWest cancels dividends

SureWest Communications will stop paying quarterly dividends after it pays its second quarter's dividend distribution, the company said Wednesday.

The final quarterly cash dividend of 25 cents per share is payable June 16 to shareholders of record at the close of business May 15. SureWest (Nasdaq: SURW) has about 11,000 shareholders who in the aggregate own about 14 million shares.

The dividend had been issued since 1953 and has varied from 10 cents to 40 cents, said SureWest spokesman Ron Rogers. Beginning in 1998, the dividend has been 25 cents per share every quarter.

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"SureWest has a solid capital structure and is well positioned for future growth," SureWest president and chief executive officer Steve Oldham said, in a news release. "While ceasing dividend payments on our common shares was a decision the board did not make lightly, we believe it is in the best interest of the company and its shareholders as we pursue our growth strategy.

"Over the long-term we expect that shareholders will receive a higher return on capital by our reinvesting in the company than they would receive from dividend payments."

SureWest is transforming into a full-service, integrated communications provider, offering telephone, Internet and television services over an Internet protocol-based fiber network in the Sacramento area and a hybrid fiber-copper cable network in Kansas City.