Now inc. released its annual results and financial statements. grace is reading the summary in the business pages of today’s paper. in its annual report this year, now inc. reported a net income of $156 million. last year, the company reported a retained earnings balance of $527 million, whereas this year it increased to $620 million. how much was paid out in dividends this year

$63 million was paid as dividends this year.

Explanation:

In the balance sheet,  retained earnings increased from $527 million reported last year to $620 million reported this year. This increase implies that for this year the company retained profits of:

If the company reported a net income of $156 million and only $93 million was retained, then the difference between the two figures is what was paid as dividends this year i.e:

Net income            $156,000,000

Less dividends           xxxxxx      

Retained earnings  $ 93,000,000

the figure for dividends is thus $63 million.