July 31, 2009 (FinancialWire) — BRE Properties, Inc.’s (NYSE: BRE) board has approved a reduction in the company’s quarterly common dividend, to $0.375 from $0.5625 per share for the third and fourth quarters of 2009.

In a statement, the board cited the company’s emphasis on capital preservation, given the magnitude of the economic recession and uncertainty regarding its duration, as the primary reason for the dividend reduction.

The quarterly common dividend payment of $0.375 is equivalent to $1.50 per common share on an annualized basis, and represents a yield of around 6.2% on TODAY’s closing price of $24.38 per share.

BRE CEO Constance B. Moore said, “We believe the dividend reduction is a prudent action in response to a difficult operating environment, in which market fundamentals continue to deteriorate, and capital remains scarce and expensive,” said.

She added that the reduction retains around $40 million per year, improving liquidity and balance sheet leverage. Moore said, “At the new level, the dividend will be well-supported by the company’s operating cash flows.”

San Francisco-based BRE Properties owns and manages apartment communities in Western U.S. markets. The company directly owns and operates 73 apartment communities totaling 21,480 units in California, Arizona and Washington.

The company invests in communities through acquisition and development, and currently has seven properties in various stages of development and construction, totaling 2,043 units, and joint venture interests in 13 additional apartment communities, totaling 4,080 units.

FinancialWire(tm) is a fully independent, proprietary news wire service. FinancialWire(tm) is not a press release service, and receives no compensation for its news, opinions or distributions. Further disclosure is at the FinancialWire(tm) web site (http://www.financialwire.net/disclosures.php). Contact FinancialWire(tm) directly via inquiries@financialwire.net.

Free annual reports for companies mentioned in the news are available through the Free Annual Reports Service (http://investrend.ar.wilink.com/?level=279).

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.