IDC Interactive Data Corp.

Interactive Data Corporation (NYSE: IDC), a leading provider of financial market data, analytics and related services to financial institutions, active traders and individual investors, today announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a 33.3 percent increase in the Company�s regular quarterly dividend to $0.20 per share, commencing with the dividend to be paid on March 31, 2009 to all shareholders of record at the close of business on March 2, 2009. In addition, the Board of Directors authorized an expansion of its existing stock buyback program for the repurchase of up to an additional two million shares of its common stock. �Increasing our regular quarterly dividend by 33 percent reflects the confidence we have in the prospects for our business and in our ability to continue generating strong net cash provided by operating activities,� stated Stuart Clark, president and chief executive officer. �We believe that our business has the balance sheet strength and cash generation characteristics to support our global business development aspirations along with the dividend and buyback activities announced today. We continue to pursue plans involving organic growth initiatives and strategic acquisitions that complement the recent progress we have made.� Interactive Data entered the fourth quarter of 2008 with no outstanding debt and $239.0 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities. Interactive Data initiated its regular quarterly dividend in March 2007 at a rate of $0.125 per common share. The Company�s quarterly dividend was increased 20 percent to $0.15 per common share for all dividends paid in 2008. The March 2009 quarterly dividend represents Interactive Data�s ninth consecutive quarterly cash dividend. The actual declaration of future quarterly dividends, and the establishment of record and payment dates, is subject to final determination of the Board of Directors of Interactive Data. During the fourth quarter of 2008 (through November 28), Interactive Data had repurchased 363,500 shares of its common stock at an average purchase price of $21.26, bringing the total number of common shares repurchased this year to 1,975,463 at an average purchase price of $26.57 per share. As of November 28, 2008, there were 93,603,132 outstanding shares of Interactive Data common stock. Entering December 2008, there were 795,437 shares available for repurchase under the existing stock buyback program. Repurchases made under the expanded stock buyback program will be made in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions from time to time, subject to market conditions and other factors and in compliance with applicable legal requirements. Repurchases of common stock may also be made under a Rule 10b5-1 plan, which would permit shares to be repurchased when Interactive Data might otherwise be precluded from doing so under insider trading laws. Interactive Data intends to use cash on hand to fund any purchases. The Company is not obligated to acquire any particular amount of common stock as a result of our stock buyback program, which may be suspended or discontinued at any time. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and federal securities laws, and is subject to the safe-harbor created by such Act and laws. Forward-looking statements include our statements discussing our goals, beliefs, strategies, objectives, plans, future financial conditions, results of operations and cash flows or projections, including our statements about our prospects; our statements related to any potential future stock repurchase transactions, including our intention to repurchase shares of our common stock from time to time under the stock buyback program, the source of funding for the stock repurchase program, as well as the timing, nature and financial impact of any such transactions related to the stock buyback program; and statements related to potential future dividends, including the timing, nature and financial impact of issuing any such dividends. Our forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: (i) the impact of cost-cutting pressures across the industries we serve; (ii) consolidation of financial services companies, both within an industry and across industries; (iii) our ability to maintain our relationships with service bureaus and custodian banks; (iv) the presence of competitors with greater financial resources than ours and their strategic response to our services and offerings; (v) new offerings by competitors or new technologies that could cause our offerings or services to become less competitive or obsolete, or we may not be able to develop new or enhanced services or offerings; (vi) a decline in activity levels in the securities markets; (vii) new legislation or changes in government or quasi-government rules, regulations, directives or standards may reduce demand for our service or increase our expenses; (viii) our ability to maintain relationships with our key suppliers and providers of market data; (ix) the possibility of a prolonged outage or other major unexpected operational difficulty at any of our key facilities; (x) our ability to negotiate and enter into strategic acquisitions or alliances on favorable terms, if at all; (xi) our ability to realize the anticipated benefits from any strategic acquisitions or alliances that we enter into; (xii) the difficulty in predicting our future cash needs; (xiii) the nature of other investment opportunities available to us from time to time; (xiv) we provide services to financial institutions that are subject to significant regulatory oversight, and any investigation of us or our customers relating to our services could be expensive, time consuming and harm our reputation; (xv) certain of our subsidiaries are subject to complex regulations and licensing requirements; (xvi) the risks of doing business internationally; (xvii) our ability to attract and retain key personnel; and (xviii) the ability of our majority shareholder to exert influence over our affairs, including the ability to approve or disapprove any corporate actions submitted to a vote of our stockholders; (xix) the relative performance of the economy and the U.S. stock market as a whole; (xx) the market price of our common stock and other market conditions; (xxi) the difficulty in predicting our future cash needs; (xxii) the nature of other investment opportunities available to us from time to time; (xxiii) our operating cash flow; and other factors identified in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to update these forward-looking statements. About Interactive Data Corporation Interactive Data Corporation (NYSE: IDC) is a leading global provider of financial market data, analytics and related services to financial institutions, active traders and individual investors. The Company's businesses supply real-time market data, time-sensitive pricing, evaluations and reference data for millions of securities traded around the world, including hard-to-value instruments. Many of the world's best-known financial service and software companies subscribe to the Company's services in support of their trading, analysis, portfolio management and valuation activities. Through its businesses, Interactive Data Pricing and Reference Data, Interactive Data Real-Time Services, Interactive Data Fixed Income Analytics, and eSignal, the Company has approximately 2,300 employees in offices located throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. The Company is headquartered in Bedford, Mass. Pearson plc (NYSE: PSO; LSE: PSON), an international media company, whose businesses include the Financial Times Group, Pearson Education, and the Penguin Group, is Interactive Data Corporation's majority stockholder. Interactive Data Corporation is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2008. For more information about Interactive Data Corporation and its businesses, please visit www.interactivedata.com.