The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) said listed companies declared a combined P402.18 billion in cash dividend last year, up 17.3 percent from the prior year’s P342.88 billion.
The PSE said this translates to a dividend yield of 2.58 percent, up from 2.5 percent in 2020.
“For PSEi companies, the cash dividends paid by 28 of the 30 main index members amounted to P157.58 billion, giving common shareholders a 1.72 percent dividend yield. In 2020, 29 PSEi constituents distributed P157.05 billion in cash dividends, providing a dividend yield of 1.76 percent,” the PSE said in a statement.
Among the six sectors in the PSE, firms in the financial index had the largest dividend payout at P187.55 billion.
“The gradual reopening of the local economy allowed companies to generate better income, which resulted in bigger dividends for shareholders. We hope that earnings growth among publicly listed companies continues to improve to ensure steady dividend income for stock market investors,” said Ramon Monzon, PSE president.
Among the listed companies that paid dividends were the real estate investment trusts (REITs) listed in the PSE – AREIT Inc., DDMP REIT Inc., Filinvest REIT Corp., RL Commercial REIT Inc., and MREIT Inc. They had an aggregate cash dividend payout of P5.77 billion, resulting in 2.16 percent dividend yield, even as three of the five REITs were only listed for an average of four months.
In 2021, 108 of 276 listed companies gave out cash dividends compared with 105 of 271 the year before.
“With around 40 percent of publicly listed companies giving out dividends to their common shareholders, we deemed it necessary to showcase companies that provide high dividend income to investors by coming up with a dividend yield index. This thematic index will be one of the new indices that we will be introducing within the semester,” Monzon said.
