LECO Lincoln Electric Holdings Inc

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc., (the "Company") (Nasdaq:LECO) today announced that its Board of Directors has approved a new share repurchase program authorizing the Company to repurchase, in the aggregate, up to 10 million of its outstanding common stock.

The new program, in addition to the 2.8 million shares remaining from the prior program, represents approximately 18% of the diluted weighted average shares outstanding as of March 31, 2016.  Under the authorization program, Lincoln Electric may repurchase shares on the open market or through privately negotiated transactions from time to time, depending on market conditions and subject to other factors.

Additionally, the board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.32 per share, payable July 15, 2016, to holders of record as of June 30, 2016.

“Our confidence in the Company’s strong cash flow generation and balance sheet profile allows us to invest in growth and return cash to shareholders through the cycle,” said Christopher L. Mapes, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. “In the last ten years, we have returned over $1.6 billion in cash to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks and have consecutively increased our dividend payout rate for twenty years.  This new program provides flexibility in achieving our capital allocation goals as part of our ‘2020 Vision and Strategy.’”

About Lincoln Electric

Lincoln Electric is the world leader in the design, development and manufacture of arc welding products, robotic arc welding systems, plasma and oxyfuel cutting equipment and has a leading global position in the brazing and soldering alloys market.  Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Lincoln has 48 manufacturing locations, including operations and joint ventures in 19 countries and a worldwide network of distributors and sales offices covering more than 160 countries.  For more information about Lincoln Electric and its products and services, visit the Company’s website at www.lincolnelectric.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

The Company’s expectations and beliefs concerning the future contained in this news release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements reflect management’s current expectations and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of words such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “intend,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “forecast,” “guidance” or words of similar meaning. Actual results may differ materially from such statements due to a variety of factors that could adversely affect the Company’s operating results. The factors include, but are not limited to: general economic and market conditions; the effectiveness of operating initiatives; completion of planned divestitures; interest rates; disruptions, uncertainty or volatility in the credit markets that may limit our access to capital; currency exchange rates and devaluations, including in highly inflationary countries such as Venezuela; adverse outcome of pending or potential litigation; actual costs of the Company’s rationalization plans; possible acquisitions; market risks and price fluctuations related to the purchase of commodities and energy; global regulatory complexity; and the possible effects of events beyond our control, such as political unrest, acts of terror and natural disasters, on the Company or its customers, suppliers and the economy in general. For additional discussion, see “Item 1A. Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015.

Contact

Amanda Butler
Director, Investor Relations
Tel: 216.383.2534
Email: Amanda_Butler@lincolnelectric.com