LOVELAND ­ Hach Co.’s board of directors has increased the company’s regular cash dividend by 20 percent, from 5 cents per share to 6 cents per share, effective with the Jan. 30, 1996, dividend to shareholders.

The Loveland-based manufacturer and distributor of laboratory instruments and other products used to analyze the chemical content and other properties of water and other solutions also announced record sales and earnings for the second quarter ended Oct. 28.Net sales rose 10 percent for the quarter at $28.7 million. Net income increased 21 percent to $2.9 million. Per-share net income jumped from 21 cents to 26 cents for the quarter.
For the first six months of the fiscal year 1996, net income rose to $5.6 million, a 19 percent increase over the same period of fiscal year 1995.