Listed firms' total dividend payments for last year comes close to historic high

Dividends in the banking, commerce, food and beverage, healthcare services and insurance sectors have risen for the fifth consecutive year.
SET executive vice president Chanitr Charnchainarong, who is also MAI |president, said last year’s performance by listed companies had recovered strongly from the flooding crisis, rising to a record high.
With good liquidity management and robust capital structures, the companies have been able to pay good dividends despite higher capital expenditure, and some companies have paid in the form of stock dividends.
It is clear that companies in sectors involving the country’s consumption and investment are still paying higher dividends, due to continuous growth in these areas, he said.
Stripping out a special interim dividend payment by Total Access Communication in 2011, when it paid Bt39 billion for capital restructuring, the SET found that 2012 dividend payments had hit historic highs for the fifth consecutive year, he added.

YIELD OF 2.77%
As of March 15, the 357 companies paying dividends comprised 300 SET-listed firms with dividends worth Bt339.07 billion and 57 MAI-listed firms with dividends worth Bt2.34 billion.
These pay-outs generated a dividend yield of 2.77 per cent and a pay-out ratio of 47.02 per cent.
In addition, 52 firms gave stock dividends worth a total of Bt8.88 billion based on par value, or Bt106.08 billion based on market prices.
Constituents in the SET High Dividend 30 Index paid dividends worth Bt129.92 billion, giving a 3.15-per-cent dividend yield.
The SET-listed firms paying the highest dividends, in descending order, were: PTT, Advanced Info Service, PTT Exploration and Production, PTT Global Chemical and Siam Commercial Bank.
These companies accounted for 35.79 per cent of the SET’s total dividends, by value.
The MAI-listed firms paying the highest dividends, also in descending order, were: Energy Earth, Unimit Engineering, Kiattana Transport, Goldfine Manufacturers and The Brooker Group.
Their combined dividends accounted for 31.62 per cent of its total dividends.
By sector, the top five dividend payments were to be found, in descending order by valuation, in energy and utilities, information and communication technology, banking, petrochemicals and chemicals, and property development.
Furthermore, There are other listed companies considering paying dividends for last year.