Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Cogdell Spencer Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend and Outlines 2009 Business Strategy

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Dec. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cogdell Spencer Inc.'s (NYSE:CSA) Board of Directors has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.225 per common share payable on January 30, 2009 to stockholders of record on January 14, 2009.

The dividend covers the fourth quarter of 2008.Cogdell Spencer also announced that its Board has approved a business plan for 2009 that focuses on cost reductions and the preservation of capital for productive deployment while allowing the Company to pursue its integrated delivery strategy despite client-related project delays resulting from the current financial crisis.

As part of this plan, Cogdell Spencer will implement a cost saving plan which, when combined with a reduction in force, will generate approximately $17 million in annual savings.

The plan includes elimination of all executive incentive compensation for the 2009 fiscal year, unless budgeted benchmarks are substantially exceeded.

The Erdman subsidiary will implement a reduction in force in order to right-size the organization for contracted 2009 revenues. The staff reduction will be made effective January 6-9, 2009.

Approximately 115 jobs will be eliminated.

Reduce its dividend from an annual equivalent of $1.40 per share and unit ($0.35 per share and unit per quarter) to an annual equivalent of $0.90 per share and unit ($0.225 per share and unit per quarter).Commenting on these steps, CEO Frank Spencer (top right photo) said,

"We believe these actions will meaningfully enhance our operating and financial flexibility, better position us to serve our clients and provide us with added capital to meet our on-going financial obligations. It is never easy to eliminate jobs, but we have enough visibility on our design/build pipeline to adjust in advance."
For a complete copy of the company's news release, please contact:

Media: Dana Crothers, Marketing Director, +1-704-940-2904, dcrothers@cogdellspencer.com
or
General Inquiries: Frank C. Spencer,President and Chief Executive Officer , +1-704-940-2926, fspencer@cogdellspencer.com
or
Financial Inquiries: Charles M. Handy,Chief Financial Officer, +1-704-940-2914, chandy@cogdellspencer.com
Posted by Alex at 8:21 AM
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