(Reuters) - General Electric Co's finance arm will resume quarterly dividend to the parent company and pay the largest U.S. conglomerate a $4.5 billion special dividend this year.
GE historically received a dividend from GE Capital Corp, but halted that practice in the fourth quarter of 2008, when the business was hard-hit by the global credit crisis.
The Federal Reserve became GE Capital's regulator in July 2011, as a result of changes following the financial crisis.
"With this announcement, GE Capital will return cash to GE beginning this quarter," CEO Jeff Immelt said in a statement.
"This action demonstrates the strength of GE Capital and the significant actions taken to strengthen its liquidity, capital, asset quality and profitability."
The board of GE Capital declared a quarterly dividend of $475 million payable to GE in the second quarter.
GE also said it plans to accelerate its common stock buyback from the current quarter, depending on market conditions.
Earlier this year, Immelt said directly rewarding shareholders through further dividend hikes and stock buybacks is a top priority for GE, even taking precedence over acquisitions.
GE shares were up more than 1 percent at $18.65 in premarket trading. They closed at $18.40 on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday.
(Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi in Bangalore; Editing by Joyjeet Das)
