Twenty-first consecutive year of growth in the dividend for shareholders, which has been increasing since the company's inception. The curious record was achieved by Swiss pharmaceutical multinational Novartis, whose shareholders' meeting gave the green light to the proposed payment of a dividend of 2,8 Swiss francs per share, an increase of 2% compared to last year's coupon.
In a note, the Basel group recalls that since the foundation of Novartis in 1996, the dividend has always increased and represents a 67% payout on free cash flow. The dividend will be paid from 8 March. The shareholders' meeting then re-elected the group board chaired by Joerg Reinhardt for one year.
The performance of the dividend partly compensates for the negative performance of the Novartis share on the Zurich Stock Exchange: for about two and a half years now, the has lost over 20% of its value. In July 2015 it had exceeded 100 Swiss francs per share, while today it is listed at around 78 Swiss francs, with a daily decline of 1%.
