Anthracite Capital, Inc. (“Anthracite” or the “Company”) (NYSE:AHR) announced today that its Board of Directors (the “Board”) has declared a first quarter 2007 cash dividend of $0.29 per share of common stock. The common stock cash dividend will be payable on April 30, 2007 to stockholders of record on March 30, 2007. The annualized dividend yield is 9.6% based upon the $12.10 closing price of Anthracite’s common stock on March 6, 2007.
The Board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.5859375 per share of Series C Preferred Stock. The Series C Preferred Stock cash dividend will be payable on April 30, 2007 to stockholders of record on April 10, 2007. The Board also declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.4411458 per share of Series D Preferred Stock. The Series D Preferred Stock cash dividend will be payable on April 30, 2007 to stockholders of record on April 10, 2007.
In addition, the members of Anthracite’s Board of Directors who are not affiliated with BlackRock Financial Management, Inc., the Company’s manager (the “Manager”), or The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (“PNC”), approved an extension of the Company’s management agreement with the Manager for one additional year through March 31, 2008. The terms of the extended agreement are similar to the current agreement.
About Anthracite
Anthracite Capital, Inc. is a specialty finance company focused on investments in high yield commercial real estate loans and related securities. Anthracite is externally managed by BlackRock Financial Management, Inc., which is a subsidiary of BlackRock, Inc. (“BlackRock”) (NYSE:BLK), one of the largest publicly traded investment management firms in the United States with approximately $1.125 trillion in global assets under management at December 31, 2006. BlackRock Realty Advisors, Inc., another subsidiary of BlackRock, provides real estate equity and other real estate-related products and services in a variety of strategies to meet the needs of institutional investors. PNC, a diversified financial services organization, is a significant shareholder of BlackRock. Through its affiliates, PNC originates commercial, multifamily and residential real estate loans, and services $223.0 billion in commercial mortgage loans for third parties through its Midland Loan Services, Inc. subsidiary at December 31, 2006.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release, and other statements that Anthracite may make, may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, with respect to Anthracite’s future financial or business performance, strategies or expectations. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words or phrases such as “trend,” “potential,”“opportunity,” “pipeline,”“believe,” “comfortable,”“expect,” “anticipate,”“current,” “intention,”“estimate,” “position,”“assume,” “outlook,”“continue,” “remain,”“maintain,” “sustain,”“seek,” “achieve,” and similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as “will,”“would,” “should,”“could,” “may” or similar expressions.
Anthracite cautions that forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties, which change over time. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and Anthracite assumes no duty to and does not undertake to update forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements and future results could differ materially from historical performance.
In addition to factors previously disclosed in Anthracite’s SEC reports and those identified elsewhere in this communication, the following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements or historical performance: (1) the introduction, withdrawal, success and timing of business initiatives and strategies; (2) changes in political, economic or industry conditions, the interest rate environment or financial and capital markets, which could result in changes in the value of Anthracite’s assets; (3) the relative and absolute investment performance and operations of Anthracite’s Manager; (4) the impact of increased competition; (5) the impact of capital improvement projects; (6) the impact of future acquisitions or divestitures; (7) the unfavorable resolution of legal proceedings; (8) the extent and timing of any share repurchases; (9) the impact, extent and timing of technological changes and the adequacy of intellectual property protection; (10) the impact of legislative and regulatory actions and reforms and regulatory, supervisory or enforcement actions of government agencies relating to Anthracite, BlackRock, Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. or PNC; (11) terrorist activities and international hostilities, which may adversely affect the general economy, domestic and global financial and capital markets, specific industries, and Anthracite; (12) the ability of BlackRock to attract and retain highly talented professionals; (13) fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; (14) the impact of changes to tax legislation and, generally, the tax position of the Company; (15) the ability of BlackRock to successfully integrate the business of Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM) with its existing business; and (16) the ability of BlackRock to effectively manage the former MLIM assets along with its historical assets under management.
Anthracite’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005 and Anthracite’s subsequent filings with the SEC, accessible on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov, identify additional factors that can affect forward-looking statements.
To learn more about Anthracite, visit our website at www.anthracitecapital.com. The information contained on the Company’s website is not a part of this press release.
