Rogers Communications Inc. is revealed to be in a process to increase its dividend and renewing a stock buyback program that will enable the Toronto-based company to cancel up-to $1.5 billion worth of its publicly traded B shares in the coming year.

The 10 per cent increase to the annual dividend rate was announced as Rogers reported a $310 million net profit in the fourth quarter of 2009.

The annualized dividend paid by Rogers will now increase to $1.28 per, class A voting share and class B non-voting share, or 32 cents per quarter - up from the previous annualized rate of $1.16 per share.

The net profit was reported to be 51 cents a share compared to a net loss of 22 cents a share, or $138 million, in the fourth quarter of 2008 when Rogers grabbed about $2.9 billion of revenue.

However, the adjusted profit exceeded expectations at 61 cents per share - up from 26 cents a year earlier. Thomson Reuters had estimated 56 cents per share of adjusted profit.

The company has added in all 128,000 wireless customers to it sphere, after a gain of 199,000 a year earlier. However, Greg MacDonald, an analyst at National Bank Financial in Toronto, had augured an increase of 160,000.