Aramark boosts dividend; yearly profit up 38%

Aramark Corp., a Philadelphia provider of food and other services, boosted its quarterly dividend by 15 percent, to 8.625 cents from 7.5 cents per share.

The new dividend is payable Dec. 16 to shareholders of record Nov. 25, the company said.

Aramark, which went public last December, also reported financial results for the fiscal year ended Oct. 3, which had 53 weeks.

Revenues were $14.8 billion, up 6 percent from $13.9 billion the year before. Adjusted net income for the year was $359 million, up 38 percent from $261 million the year before.

In the company's fourth quarter, it took a $21 million charge relating to productivity-improvement efforts.

In the next two years, Aramark expects to incur an additional $100 million in charges related to those efforts. - Harold Brubaker