Under the active guidance and encouragement of the policy, more and more listed companies have put forward "real gold and silver" dividend plans to give back to investors.
According to the Business Performance Report of Chinese Listed Companies in 2023 issued by the China Association of Listed Companies on May 1, 2024, 3859 listed companies had announced or implemented cash dividend plans for 2023 (including quarterly, semi annual, annual and special dividends), accounting for 92% of the total number of profitable companies. Among them, more than 100 companies have paid cash dividends for the first time since listing.
In terms of amount, the total cash dividends of the above 3859 listed companies reached 2.24 trillion yuan, a slight increase over the previous year, with an average dividend of 580 million yuan per company; From the perspective of dividend ratio, the overall dividend payout rate of dividend companies is 36.94%, and the dividend payout rate of 1217 companies exceeds 50%; In terms of dividend frequency, 254 companies have disclosed their quarterly and semi annual dividend plans for 2023. The number of companies has increased significantly over the previous year, and the stability, sustainability and predictability of cash dividends have continued to strengthen.
At the same time, in order to continue to enhance the sense of gain of investors and stabilize the dividend expectation, some listed companies have also made plans and arrangements for the mid-term dividend in 2024 in advance.
According to incomplete statistics by the reporter of Securities Daily, as of May 14, more than 125 listed companies in the A-share market have announced their intention to launch the 2024 medium-term cash dividend plan through public announcements, investor interactive platform questions and answers, performance briefings and other forms.
Taking Luolai Life as an example, the company disclosed an announcement on April 27 that the board of directors of the company introduced the 2023 profit distribution plan on the principle of maintaining continuity and stability of the profit distribution policy and being conducive to the company's sustainable and steady growth, and planned to distribute a cash dividend of 4 yuan (tax included) per 10 shares to all shareholders. At the same time, the company plans to distribute dividends in the half year of 2024 in combination with the undistributed profits and the current operating performance. Based on the total share capital at that time, the company will distribute cash dividends of no less than 2 yuan (tax included) per 10 shares to all shareholders.
In order to simplify the dividend procedure, some companies have begun to ask the general meeting of shareholders of the company to approve and authorize the board of directors to formulate a specific medium-term dividend plan in line with the conditions of profit distribution according to the resolution of the general meeting of shareholders.
Behind the cash dividend feast, the relationship between listed companies and investors is quietly changing.
A senior executive of a listed company who did not want to be named said to the Securities Daily: "In the past, the company did not launch a medium-term dividend plan. This year, the Board of Directors formulated a multi period dividend plan to promote the annual profit distribution and also made a plan for the medium-term dividend in 2024. At present, investors' feedback is relatively positive, and they very much agree with the company's approach."
The reporter saw on the investor interaction platform that many investors recently asked the listed companies about the medium-term dividend plan for 2024, and the listed companies responded in succession. Some listed companies that have not yet launched medium-term dividend plans also publicly said: "We will carefully study the medium-term dividend issue and reasonably determine the dividend frequency and proportion by taking into account the demands of shareholders and other factors."
Wang Xu, a senior investment consultant of Jufeng Investment Consulting, said in an interview with the Securities Daily: "Most of the listed companies that actively distribute dividends or even distribute dividends more than once a year have strong and stable profitability, and their products have a high market share and stable customer groups. At the same time, investors tend to invest in listed companies that can provide stable dividends, which is also an encouragement for listed companies willing to pay dividends, playing a role in mutual achievements and mutual promotion. "
In addition, the new "National Ninth Article" puts the strengthening of the supervision of cash dividends of listed companies in a prominent position. Under the policy encouragement and requirements, many listed companies issued announcements this year to solicit opinions from minority shareholders on the profit distribution plan in 2023.
Taking Soochow Securities as an example, on April 19, 2024, the company announced that, according to the Opinions on Further Strengthening the Protection of the Legal Rights and Interests of Small and Medium Investors in the Capital Market issued by the General Office of the State Council, the Regulatory Guidelines for Listed Companies No. 3 - Cash Dividends of Listed Companies issued by the CSRC, and the Self regulatory Guidelines for Listed Companies No. 1 - Standardized Operation issued by the Shanghai Stock Exchange As well as the relevant provisions and requirements of the Company's Articles of Association, in order to further improve the Company's profit distribution work in 2023, enhance the transparency of the Company's profit distribution matters, protect the interests of shareholders, especially minority shareholders, and seek opinions from shareholders on the Company's profit distribution plan in 2023.
