The dividend fever continues to inflame Piazza Affari. April and May, the two months in which the main companies of the Milan Stock Exchange traditionally detach their coupons, are approaching and it is time for investors to do some calculations.
2018 promises to be very profitable for everyone those who have purchased shares of Italian companies listed on the Ftse Mib. Day after day, the boards of directors of the blue chips approve the 2017 accounts, but above all they propose to the various shareholders' meetings the amount and date of payment of the dividends based on last year's financial statements.
THE 2018 DIVIDEND INCREASE
Well, based on the data, 20 of the 40 companies listed on the main basket of Piazza Affari have decided for this year to distribute a coupon higher than that of the previous year.
Generally speaking, in Italy the increase in dividends is +3,2% against the +7,7% recorded from the 1.200 most capitalized companies in the world. In a nutshell, that's about $12,9 billion more vs $1.252 billion in annualized global dividend payout growth.
DIVIDENDS 2018: HIGHER INCREASES HERE
The lion's share of the Ftse Mib companies is Azimuth that next 21 May (with payment on 23) will detach to its shareholders a coupon of 2 euro per share (of which 1 euro in cash and 1 in shares), a figure that corresponds exactly to double the amount paid in 2017 on accounts of the previous year.
In percentage terms it follows Moncler, which marks +55,6% with a dividend in 2018 rising to 0,28 euro against the 0,18 euro per share distributed in 2017 (on 2016 profits).
Increase from 0,11 euros to 0,14 euros per Cnh Industrial, for a total of approximately 191 million euro to be disbursed, while the coupon of Atlantia it rises from 0,97 to 1,22 euros (a deposit of 0,57 euros already paid in November). The dividend is also growing Enel which on 24 January distributed an interim payment of €0,105 per share out of a total expected for 2018 of €0,23 (it was €0,18 in 2017). On Recorded: from 0,7 to 0,85 (with a deposit of 0,42 euro paid four months ago). In all four cases, the increases established by the board of directors exceed 20%.
DIVIDENDS 2018: DOUBLE-DIGIT INCREASES
The coupon grew by 16%. Unipolsai, from 0,125 to 0,145 per share, while the board of Intesa Sanpaolo, which has a very high payout, established an increase of 14% to 0,203 euro for each ordinary share (coupon of 0,214 euro for savings bonds) compared to 0,178 in 2017 (on the 2016 accounts). Among the banks, the return to the dividend should be noted unicredit, which in 2018 will pay its shareholders a dividend of 0,32 euro per share, corresponding to total dividends of 0,7 billion euro and a 20% payout on profits. Remaining in the sector, three other institutions have also decided to increase the amount to be paid to members:
- Generali Bank: from 1,07 to 1,25 euros per share,
- Bper: from 0,06 to 0,11 euros per share,
- Finecobank: from 0,28 to 0,285 euro per share.
Double-digit increase on the 2018 dividend also for Classic Ferrari for sale (+11,8% from 0,635 to 0,71 euros), Campari (+11,1%, from 0,045 to 0,05) e Brembo (+10%, from 0,2 to 0,22).
DIVIDENDS 2018: OTHER INCREASES
Among the Ftse Mib companies, the 2018 dividends (on the 2017 accounts) will also rise due to:
- Luxottica: from 0,92 to 1,01 euros per share,
- Generali: from 0,8 to 0,85 euros per share,
- Italian post: from 0,39 to 0,42 euro per share.
Plus sign for too Italgas, whose dividend will rise from 0,2 to 0,208 euro per share, an amount which in percentage terms corresponds to +4%. The coupon also rose Snam which last week proposed the distribution of a 2018 dividend, relating to the 2017 financial year, of €0,2155, including the interim dividend of €0,0862 detached in January 2018. The balance of the coupon, equal to €0,1293 will be detached on June 18, 2018.
Remaining among the service companies, there is still no definitive indication from Terna, but last November the electricity group led by Luigi Ferraris distributed an interim payment of 0,074263 euros per share compared to the 0,0721 euros disbursed the previous year (when the total figure was equal to 0,206 euros). Not only that, based on what was communicated through theInvestor Relations "with reference to the dividend policy, the assumptions of the 2016-2019 Strategic Plan were confirmed and extended to the wider 2017-2021 period, with an annual growth of the dividend of 3%, in line with the expected evolution of profits and the main equity parameters" .
