MONTREAL – Yellow Pages Ltd. says it is initiating a quarterly dividend and repaying all of its remaining debt following a successful turnaround.

The Montreal-based digital media and marketing company says it will pay 11 cents per share beginning in the second quarter of its fiscal year.

It repaid notes in December three years ahead of maturity and says it will make an optional redemption payment of $107.1 million to repay its remaining debt fully around May 31, 2021.

The announcements were made Thursday as it reported that it capped a stronger year with net earnings surging 34 per cent to $53.6 million in the fourth quarter, up from about $40 million a year earlier.

That equalled $1.70 per diluted share, up from $1.28 per share in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Total revenues decreased 25.7 per cent to $93.5 million on lower digital and print revenues in the YP segment, as well as divestitures.

For the full year, it earned $94.7 million or $3.16 per share on $403.2 million in revenue. That compared with $82.8 million or $2.78 per share on $577.2 million in revenue in 2018.

Yellow Pages was expected to earn $54 million on $403 million of revenues, according to financial markets data firm Refinitiv.

The company has made adjustments to the shifting needs of a competitive marketplace, including restructuring its relationship with unionized sales representatives across Canada.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 13, 2020.

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