GCC-listed firms’ dividends down 3% in 2016

22/05/2017 Argaam Special

Companies listed on GCC markets issued $34.8 billion in cash dividends by the end of 2016, a decline of 3 percent year-on-year (YoY) compared to $36 billion in 2015, a new study conducted by Argaam showed.

 

Dividend yield stabilized at 4.2 percent last year.

 

Classified by equity markets, the Muscat Securities Market (MSM) came on top with a 5.4 percent yield.

 

Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) and Bahrain Bourse came second with a 4.8 percent yield each.

 

It was followed by Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) with 4.6 percent, Dubai Financial Market (DFM) (4.4 percent) and Tadawul (4 percent). Qatar Exchange tailed the list with a yield of 3.6 percent.

 

Comparison of GCC market indices

Financial Market

Total distributed dividend ($ bln)

Market capitalization

($ bln)

2015

2016

Total market yield (%)

Total market yield (%)

Muscat*

1.05

19.49

4.8%

5.4%

Abu Dhabi

5.73

118.34

5.2%

4.8%

Bahrain

1.01

21.00

4.4%

4.8%

Kuwait

3.78

82.83

4.0%

4.6%

Dubai

3.51

79.40

4.5%

4.4%

Saudi Arabia

14.42

362.90

4.0%

4.0%

Qatar

5.32

147.60

3.8%

3.6%

*official market’s companies

 

KSE ranked first by ratio of dividend to net profit, paying 83 percent of market’s aggregate earnings.

 

Tadawul ranked second with 58 percent, followed by ADX and MSM with 56 percent and 55 percent, respectively.

 

Dividend

Market

Dividend distributed to net profit %

Market’s total number of companies

Number of dividend paying companies

Kuwait

83%*

161

76

Saudi Arabia

58%

175

91

Abu Dhabi**

56%

63

46

Muscat

55%

57

42

Dubai

50%

47

29

Qatar

44%

44

38

Bahrain

42%

41

30

*The percentage rose due to the high dividend distributed by Americana (Kuwait Food Co.)

** Distributions included First Gulf Bank before the merger with National Bank of Abu Dhabi

 

Of the top 20 companies by market value, Tadawul-listed Saudi Telecom Co. (STC) paid the highest dividend yield of 5.7 percent in 2016.

 

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) followed with 5.5 percent.

 

Dubai’s Emirates NBD and Saudi-listed Kingdom Holding Co. (KHC) recorded yields of 4.8 percent each, while Qatari Masraf Al Rayan and UAE’s telecom giant Etisalat followed with a 4.6 percent yield each.

 

Top 20 companies in terms of dividend yield

Company

Market

Cash dividend per share*

Closing price on May 18, 2017

Yield (%)

STC

KSA

4.00

69.71

5.7 %

ADCB

Abu Dhabi

0.40

7.32

5.5 %

Emirates NBD

Dubai

0.40

8.29

4.8 %

Kingdom Holding

KSA

0.50

10.34

4.8 %

Masraf Al Rayan

Qatar

2.00

43.25

4.6 %

Etisalat UAE

Abu Dhabi

0.80

17.50

4.6 %

SAMBA

KSA

0.95

21.74

4.4 %

NBK

Kuwait

0.030

0.690

4.1 %

SABIC

KSA

4.00

97.31

4.1 %

NBAD**

Abu Dhabi

0.45

11.25

4.0 %

NCB

KSA

1.60

41.07

3.9 %

Qatar Industries

Qatar

4.00

102.00

3.9 %

Emaar Malls

Dubai

0.10

2.58

3.9 %

Al Rajhi

KSA

2.25

62.26

3.6 %

Ooredoo

Qatar

3.50

106.30

3.3 %

Ezdan Holding

Qatar

0.50

15.70

3.2 %

SABB

KSA

0.70

22.64

3.1 %

Baitak

Kuwait

0.015

0.500

3.1 %

QNB

Qatar

3.18

140.00

2.3 %

EMAAR

Dubai

0.15

7.46

2.0 %

*According to each market currency

**dividend was distributed before the merger

 

A total of 40 heavily-traded companies paid high yields, led by Kuwait Food Company (Americana) with a yield of 25 percent.

 

Eighteen Saudi firms were on the list, led by Arabian Cement and Saudi Cement with 11 percent and 10.4 percent yields, respectively.

 

Among thinly-traded stocks, DFM-listed Orient Insurance came first with a 30.2 percent yield. It was followed by Omani Port Services Corp. (24 percent) and United Power Co. (14.1 percent). 

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