A.P. Moller-Maersk raise annual dividend 50 percent

A.P. Moller-Maersk raise annual dividend 50 percent    Stockholders of A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S approved Wednesday a 50-percent increase to the group’s dividend payment this year to DKK300 ($47.75) per share at an annual general meeting held at Svendborg, Denmark.
   The dividend covers the group’s results for 2003, when net income soared 43 percent to DKK17.3 billion ($2.9 billion), as Maersk’s container shipping and related activities increased their profits eight-fold, to DKK3.9 billion ($648 million).
   About DKK1.3 billion ($207 million) of last year’s net profit will be distributed in dividends.
   The stockholders also approved a proposal that, in the period until the next annual general meeting, the company may buy its own shares for up to 10 percent of the company’s share capital, at a purchase price that must not deviate by more than 10 percent from the price quoted on the Copenhagen stock exchange.