<H1>Alaska - Permanent Fund dividend checks likely to shrink again</H1>

High-earning 2007 is cut from five-year average; recession influence continues.

By Becky Bohrer, Associated Press

Alaskans could see a smaller Permanent Fund dividend this fall.

The Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. on Thursday said it expects to transfer $605 million to the dividend division for checks -- down from $801 million last year and the lowest transfer since fiscal year 2005.

The amount of investment earnings allocated to dividends is based on a five-year rolling average of Permanent Fund performance. Dropping from the average this year is 2007, a recent high-water mark in which the fund earned $3.4 billion in statutory net income, realized gains used in calculating the dividend. Staying in is 2009, during the recession, when the fund recorded its first net loss in the statutory net income.

The statutory net income earned this past fiscal year was $1.6 billion.

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