Coke approves 11% dividend increase

17/02/06 The Board of Directors of The Coca-Cola Company have approved the Company's 44th consecutive annual dividend increase, raising the quarterly dividend 11 percent from 28 cents to 31 cents per common share. This is equivalent to an annual dividend of $1.24 per share, up from $1.12 per share in 2005.

The increase reflects the Board's confidence in the Company's long-term cash flow. Cash from operations in 2005 reached a record $6.4 billion – an 8 percent increase from 2004. The Company returned $4.7 billion to shareowners during the year through $2.7 billion in dividends and $2 billion in share repurchases.

Coke said that in the past five years, the Company's dividends have grown at a compound annual rate of more than 10 percent. The dividend is payable April 1, 2006, to shareowners of record as of March 15, 2006.