Walmart 2009 Annual Report Download - page 25

23Wal-Mart 2009 Annual Report
Company Share Repurchase Program
From time to time, we have repurchased shares of our common
stock under a $10.0 billion share repurchase program authorized by
our Board of Directors in September 2004.
On May 31, 2007, the Board of Directors replaced the $10.0 billion share
repurchase program, which had $3.3 billion of remaining authorization
for share repurchases, with a new $15.0 billion share repurchase pro-
gram announced on June 1, 2007. Under the new share repurchase
program, there is no expiration date or other restriction limiting the
period over which we can make our share repurchases under the
new program, which will expire only when and if we have repurchased
$15.0 billion of our shares under the program. Under the new pro-
gram, repurchased shares are constructively retired and returned to
unissued status. We consider several factors in determining when
to execute the share repurchases, including among other things, our
current cash needs, our capacity for leverage, our cost of borrowings
and the market price of our common stock. At January 31, 2009, approxi-
mately $5.0 billion remained of the $15.0 billion authorization. As a
result of the economic environment and instability of the credit
markets, we suspended our share repurchase program in October
2008. We reinstituted our share repurchase program in February 2009
and will continue to monitor market conditions in connection with
our program.
Common Stock Dividends
We paid dividends of $0.95 per share in  scal 2009, representing an
8.0% increase over  scal 2008. The  scal 2008 dividend of $0.88 per
share represented a 31.3% increase over  scal 2007. We have increased
our dividend every year since the  rst dividend was declared in
March 1974.
On March 5, 2009, the Company’s Board of Directors approved an
increase in the annual dividend for  scal 2010 to $1.09 per share, an
increase of 15% over the dividends paid in  scal 2009. The annual div-
idend will be paid in four quarterly installments on April 6, 2009, June 1,
2009, September 8, 2009, and January 4, 2010 to holders of record on
March 13, May 15, August 14 and December 11, 2009, respectively.
Contractual Obligations and Other Commercial Commitments
The following table sets forth certain information concerning our obligations and commitments to make contractual future payments, such
as debt and lease agreements, and contingent commitments:
Payments Due During Fiscal Years Ending January 31,
(Amounts in millions) Total 2010 2011–2012 2013–2014 Thereafter
Recorded contractual obligations:
Long-term debt $ 37,197 $ 5,848 $ 8,551 $ 5,723 $17,075
Commercial paper 1,506 1,506 — — —
Capital lease obligations 5,518 569 1,083 952 2,914
Unrecorded contractual obligations:
Non-cancelable operating leases 12,830 1,161 2,135 1,704 7,830
Interest on long-term debt 27,536 1,973 3,123 2,625 19,815
Undrawn lines of credit 10,234 5,942 4,276 16 —
Trade letters of credit 2,388 2,388 — — —
Standby letters of credit 2,034 2,034 — — —
Purchase obligations 4,451 3,220 952 195 84
Total commercial commitments $103,694 $24,641 $20,120 $11,215 $47,718
Purchase obligations include legally binding contracts such as  rm
commitments for inventory and utility purchases, as well as commit-
ments to make capital expenditures, software acquisition/license
commitments and legally binding service contracts. Purchase orders
for the purchase of inventory and other services are not included in
the table above. Purchase orders represent authorizations to purchase
rather than binding agreements. For the purposes of this table, con-
tractual obligations for purchase of goods or services are de ned as
agreements that are enforceable and legally binding and that specify
all signi cant terms, including:  xed or minimum quantities to be
purchased; fixed, minimum or variable price provisions; and the
approximate timing of the transaction. Our purchase orders are based
on our current inventory needs and are ful lled by our suppliers within
short time periods. We also enter into contracts for outsourced services;
however, the obligations under these contracts are not signi cant and
the contracts generally contain clauses allowing for cancellation
without signi cant penalty.
The expected timing for payment of the obligations discussed
above is estimated based on current information. Timing of payments
and actual amounts paid with respect to some unrecorded con-
tractual commitments may be di erent depending on the timing of
receipt of goods or services or changes to agreed-upon amounts for
some obligations.
On March 5, 2009, the Company’s Board
of Directors approved an increase in the
annual dividend for fiscal 2010 to $1.09
per share, an increase of 15% over the
dividends paid in fiscal 2009.