Edmond English, President and Chief Executive Officer of The TJX Companies, Inc., stated, "I am very pleased to report that our Board of Directors has voted this 33% increase in our dividend to shareholders, which reflects our confidence in the fundamentals of our business and TJX's abilities to continue to produce top- and bottom-line growth. This dividend increase follows a significant increase last year and marks the ninth consecutive year that we have raised the dividend."
English continued, "With the significant cash generated from our strong operations, we are able to simultaneously deliver excellent returns for our shareholders through dividends and our substantial stock buyback program, reinvest in our businesses, and embark on new initiatives. Our plans call for repurchasing $600 million of TJX stock in fiscal 2006. Further, we expect to add 161 stores across all of our divisions in fiscal 2006. We also plan to continue expansions of our jewelry and accessories departments at T.J. Maxx and footwear offerings at Marshalls in both existing and new stores. We have excellent growth potential within our more established businesses as well as our younger concepts and are confident in our ability to grow TJX to over 4,400 stores worldwide over the longer term with our current portfolio of businesses."
Proposal to Declassify Board of Directors
The TJX Companies, Inc., today also reported that its Board of Directors voted to recommend that shareholders amend TJX's charter to declassify the Board and provide for the annual election of all directors. Currently, directors are elected to serve staggered, three-year terms.
The declassification proposal will be presented to shareholders at the 2005 Annual Meeting to be held June 7, 2005. Approval of the proposal will require the affirmative vote of the holders of at least two-thirds of the outstanding shares of TJX's common stock.
About The TJX Companies, Inc.
The TJX Companies, Inc. is the leading off-price retailer of apparel and home fashions in the U.S. and worldwide. The Company operates 771 T.J. Maxx, 697 Marshalls, 217 HomeGoods and 130 A.J. Wright stores, as well as 32 Bob's Stores, in the United States. In Canada, the Company operates 168 Winners and 40 HomeSense stores, and in Europe, 173 T.K. Maxx stores. TJX's press releases and financial information are also available on the Internet at www.tjx.com.
SAFE HARBOR STATEMENTS UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995: Various statements made in this release are forward-looking and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. All statements that address activities, events or developments that we intend, expect or believe may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. The following are some of the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements: our ability to continue successful expansion of our store base; risks of expansion; our ability to successfully implement our opportunistic inventory strategies and to effectively manage our inventories; consumer confidence, demand, spending habits and buying preferences; effects of unseasonable weather; competitive factors; factors affecting availability of store and distribution center locations on suitable terms; factors affecting our recruitment and employment of associates; factors affecting expenses; success of our acquisition and divestiture activities; our ability to successfully implement technologies and systems; our ability to continue to generate adequate cash flows; general economic conditions; potential disruptions due to wars, natural disasters and other events beyond our control; changes in currency and exchange rates; import risks; adverse outcomes for any significant litigation; changes in laws and regulations and accounting rules and principles; effectiveness of internal controls; and other factors that may be described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We do not undertake to publicly update or revise our forward-looking statements even if experience or future changes make it clear that any projected results expressed or implied in such statements will not be realized.
