-=Sallie Mae (SLM) reported earnings on Wed 23 Jan 2019 (a/h)

Sallie Mae beats by $0.04, beats on revs; guides FY19 EPS above consensus; announces new $200 mln share repurchase program

• Reports Q4 (Dec) core earnings of $0.31 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.04 better than the S&P Capital IQ Consensus of $0.27; net interest income rose 23.8% year/year to $382.87 mln vs the $367.4 mln S&P Capital IQ Consensus.
• Co issues upside guidance for FY19, sees core EPS of $1.22-1.26, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $1.21 S&P Capital IQ Consensus.
• Co also announces new $200 mln share repurchase program and initiated a new policy to pay a regular, quarterly common stock dividend. A 2019 first-quarter dividend of $0.03 per share on the company's common stock will be paid on March 15, 2019 to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 5, 2019. This marks the first time the company has paid a common stock dividend since its spin-off of Navient Corporation in 2014.