First Security Corp. has voted to raise its quarterly dividend from 27.5 cents to 30 cents per common share, payable Dec. 5 to stockholders of record Nov. 18.
The 9 percent increase equals $1.20 per share on an indicated annual basis, the financial holding company said.First Security Chairman and Chief Executive Spencer F. Eccles said the increase - this first since late 1982 - results from earnings improvement during the last several quarters.
First Security recently reported its best quarterly performance in five years with third period income of $9.1 million. Earnings of $24.2 million for the first nine months of 1988 were 15.2 percent higher than the $21 million earned during 1987's first three quarters.
Eccles also announced the appointment of Scott Nelson, formerly president and chief administrative officer of First Security Bank of Utah, to chief executive officer of the bank.
Nelson succeeds Robert T. Heiner, who continues as
ank chairman and president and chief administrative officer of First Security Corp.
Formerly president and chief administrative officer of First Security Bank of Idaho, he was named to the same post of the Utah bank in 1987. He is a graduate of the University of Idaho and received an MBA from the University of Utah. He has been with First Security since 1969.
In his economic report to directors Monday, Eccles said the third quarter was marked by rising interest rates fueled by rapid economic growth and the Federal Reserve Board's anti-inflationary policy.
Growth was the result of strong exports, expanding capital goods and "a surprisingly resilient consumer demand. Fears of inflation, prompted by low unemployment and rising plant efficiency, forced the Fed to raise short term interest rates, Eccles said.