KLA-Tencor Appoints Bren Higgins As CFO; Hikes Dividend - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) announced that it has appointed Bren Higgins as its executive vice president and chief financial officer, reporting directly to Rick Wallace, president and chief executive officer. Higgins will assume the CFO duties the day after KLA-Tencor files its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2013 with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Mark Dentinger, who had notified the company of his intent to resign as CFO, will continue to serve as KLA-Tencor's CFO through the filing date of the company's fiscal year 2013 Form 10-K. Dentinger will then remain with the company as a senior advisor through the end of calendar year 2013 to assist with the transition of the CFO responsibilities to Higgins.

Higgins currently oversees the treasury and investor relations functions at KLA-Tencor and supports the company's business development efforts. He has managed these responsibilities in his role as vice president of corporate finance since January 2012, and as senior director of corporate finance from August 2011 to January 2012. Before that, he served as KLA-Tencor's senior director of financial planning and analysis from August 2008 to August 2011. Higgins has also held various financial and investor relations positions since joining the company in 1999, including multiple product division controller assignments and serving as group controller for KLA-Tencor's Wafer Inspection and Lithography Groups from 2006 to 2008.

The company also announced that its board of directors has authorized an increase in the level of the company's quarterly dividend from $0.40 to $0.45 per share. This increase is expected to take effect beginning with KLA-Tencor's quarterly dividend to be declared in August 2013. This represents a 12.5 percent increase compared to the prior quarterly dividend.