Arctic Slope corp. declares dividend of $40

BARROW, Alaska -- Nearly every shareholder of the Barrow-based Arctic Slope Regional Corp. will be pocketing about $4,000 just before the holidays.

The Alaska Native corporation has announced the fall dividend will be $40 per share. A statement from the corporation says the average shareholder owns 100 shares.

The dividend will be issued in early December.

Board chairman Crawford Patkotak says this amount reflects a change in its policy of payouts. The board is targeting an annual payout of $50 per share.

The dividend is paid twice a year, and under the new policy, it's likely the spring 2013 payout will be $10 a share with the exact amount to be set later.

Last year's fall dividend was $34.31.

The corporation has about 11,000 shareholders.