◎Reporter Gao Zhigang
Under the guidance of the new "National Nine Articles" to strengthen cash dividends, the initiative and enthusiasm of listed companies for cash dividends have been significantly enhanced, and the scale of annual cash dividends of A-share companies in 2023 will reach a new high, exceeding 2.2 trillion yuan.
According to the statistics of the Shanghai Securities News, as of 9 p.m. on April 29, a total of 5,160 A-share listed companies have released their 2023 annual reports, of which 3,800 listed companies have disclosed cash dividend plans, accounting for 74.72% of the companies that have announced their annual reports, and the total amount of annual cash dividends is as high as 2.2 trillion yuan (including quarterly reports, semi-annual reports, and annual reports of the year, the same below).
In the past five years, the scale of cash dividends of listed companies has reached a new high, becoming a beautiful "landscape" in the A-share market. From 2018 to 2022, the total cumulative cash dividends of listed companies were 1.23 trillion yuan, 1.32 trillion yuan, 1.53 trillion yuan, 1.92 trillion yuan and 2.13 trillion yuan, respectively. Specifically, listed companies continue to increase the amount and proportion of dividends, especially large-cap blue-chip companies have maintained more than 10 billion dividends all year round, becoming the main force of cash dividends in the A-share market.
Industry insiders generally believe that the policy guidelines of the new "National Nine Articles" in terms of cash dividends will effectively urge more companies that have the ability to pay dividends, increase dividend repurchases, enhance investor returns, and further improve the normalized dividend mechanism of A-shares.
A number of companies have set new dividend records
In 2023, the cash dividends of A-share companies will be characterized by high intensity and frequency. Many industry leaders have significantly increased their dividend intensity in 2023, and the amount of proposed dividends even exceeds the total cumulative dividends in the past few years.
Roborock and Changchun High-tech are active practitioners of high dividends, and both companies will pay more than 4 yuan per share in 2023, both of which are the highest in history. In 2023, the company plans to distribute 4.68 yuan per share, with a total cash distribution of 615 million yuan, plus a mid-year dividend of 121 million yuan, the total annual dividend will reach 730 million yuan, and the dividend ratio will be significantly increased to 35.85%.
Changchun High-tech will pay 1.81 billion yuan in cash in 2023, and the dividend ratio will rise to 39.93%. In the 11 years from 2012 to 2022, the company's total cash dividends were 1.911 billion yuan, and the average dividend ratio was only 16.16%. Tsingtao Brewery has further increased its dividend efforts on the basis of the previous high dividend, and the company's total dividend in 2023 will be 2.728 billion yuan, and the dividend ratio will increase to 63.93%.
From the perspective of dividend scale, large-cap blue-chip companies have always been high-dividend "high rollers". According to the data, 28 companies are among the "cash dividend 10 billion list" in 2023. Banking, telecommunications, petroleum, coal and other industries are the highlands of cash dividends, and 11 banks are on the "10 billion list", with a total of more than 520 billion yuan in cash dividends. Among them, the dividends of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and China Construction Bank in 2023 will exceed 100 billion yuan.
The "three major operators" and "three barrels of oil" are still generous. China Mobile's revenue in 2023 will exceed the trillion yuan mark for the first time, and the scale of profits will hit a record high. At the same time, China Mobile's board of directors recommended a dividend ratio of 71% for the full year of 2023, and together with the interim dividend paid, the annual dividend for 2023 will exceed 94 billion yuan. The total value of the total dividends of the "three barrels of oil" in 2023 is close to 180 billion yuan.
The dividend ratio is a key indicator to evaluate the "gold content" of cash dividends of listed companies. At present, there are 1,293 companies with a dividend ratio of more than 50%, accounting for more than 30%, of which 224 companies such as Yutong Bus and Camellia Co., Ltd. have a dividend amount of more than the net profit attributable to the parent company in the current period.
In addition, there are a number of companies that have joined the dividend team for the first time. For example, Chifeng Gold, which has not paid cash dividends for 18 years, plans to distribute a cash dividend of 0.5 yuan (tax included) for every 10 shares in 2023. Allist, a science and technology innovation board company, is also paying dividends for the first time, and the company plans to distribute 180 million yuan in 2023, with a dividend ratio of 27.94%.
152 companies with dividend yields of more than 5%
Dividend yield is the ratio between dividends and stock prices. In the eyes of professionals, dividend yield is one of the important indicators to measure whether a company has investment value, and its level reflects the quality of business model and corporate governance to a certain extent.
The reporter noted that compared with the one-year deposit rate of 1.45%, the overall dividend yield of A-shares is close to a historical high, such as the dividend yield of the SSE 50 and the CSI 300 has reached 3.85% and 2.93%. Based on the closing price on April 29, there are 152 companies with dividend yields of more than 5%, of which Liba shares, Heung Kong Holdings, and Great Wall Technology have dividend yields of more than 10%.
Liba shares temporarily topped the list with a dividend yield of 15.24%. In 2023, the company will achieve operating income of 1.524 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.61%, and net profit attributable to shareholders of the company will be 64,000 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.33%. The board of directors of the company proposed to distribute a cash dividend of 10 yuan for every 10 shares.
From the perspective of industry distribution, among the companies with dividend yields higher than 5%, there are more companies in banks, coal, light industry manufacturing and other industries, with 22, 13 and 11 respectively. The dividend yield of 6 banks such as Ping An Bank and Bank of Shanghai exceeds 6%, the dividend yield of many coal companies such as Yankuang Energy and Orchid Science and Technology is still more than 7% after the stock price rises, and the dividend yield of household goods companies such as Qisheng Technology and Jiangshan Opai is not low, all above 5%.
In the long run, there are 47 companies with dividend yields of more than 5% in the past three years (2021 to 2023), including 15 banks, 10 coal companies, and 6 companies in the transportation industry.
The "iron roosters" can't sit still?
After the release of the new "National Nine Articles", the A-share "iron roosters" who have not paid dividends or paid low dividends for many years can't sit still.
Recently, Jilin Expressway adjusted its dividend plan for 2023, planning to distribute 0.9 yuan for every 10 shares, with a total of 170 million yuan. Previously, the company received an inquiry letter from the Shanghai Stock Exchange for not paying dividends, asking about the reasonableness of not paying dividends for many years, and two directors of the company also abstained from voting on this and suggested dividends.
Under the pressure of supervision, Jilin Expressway is not the only one that has recently "changed" dividends. Dabo Medical and Fangda Special Steel have also successively adjusted their dividend plans. A number of capital people interviewed by the reporter believe that under the trend of strict supervision, listed companies that have been profitable for many years and have abundant undistributed profits will have to change their profit distribution strategies in the future.
The reporter found that excluding companies listed after 2022, as of April 26, among the listed companies that have disclosed their 2023 annual reports, the undistributed profits of the parent company and the undistributed profits in the consolidated statements in the past three years are greater than 0, and the net profit attributable to the parent company in the past three years have achieved profits, 17 companies have not paid cash dividends in the past three years (2021 to 2023).
According to the new dividend rules (draft for comments), listed companies that do not pay dividends or cash dividends that do not meet the standards will be subject to ST. Industry insiders believe that the requirements of the new "National Nine Articles" in terms of cash dividends will effectively urge more companies that have the ability to pay dividends, increase dividend repurchases, and enhance investor returns.
Source: Shanghai Securities News