The new ecology of A-share dividends: "zero dividend" companies began to throw money, and a number of "iron roosters" were named and criticized

CBN

2024-06-29 17:22CBN official account

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01In recent years, the enthusiasm of listed companies for dividends has continued to increase, and the total dividend amount in 2023 will reach 2.24 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.16%.

02 However, there are still more than 30 listed companies that have zero dividends in the past five years and have thrown out profit distribution plans this year, such as Xunxing shares.

03Investors are particularly concerned about the interim dividend arrangement and multiple dividends a year, and more than 100 listed companies have planned to pay interim dividends in 2024.

04 The exchange continued to strengthen the supervision of cash dividends, and criticized a number of "iron roosters", such as Zhaofeng shares and Jilin Expressway.

05In accordance with regulatory requirements, the implementation of ST measures for cash dividends that do not meet the standards will be officially implemented from January 1, 2025.

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Listed companies that promised dividends before listing, but have not disclosed their dividend plans after making profits for many years after listing, are facing rounds of pressure from regulators and investors. In recent months, a small number of listed companies have also received regulatory letters due to poor dividends.

On the interactive platform, a number of listed companies were asked about dividends. In accordance with regulatory requirements, the implementation of ST measures for cash dividends that do not meet the standards will be officially implemented from January 1, 2025, and the "last three fiscal years" in the "assessment period" refer to 2022 to 2024, and listed companies affected by the rules need to increase the level of cash dividends during the transition period.

According to incomplete statistics from Wind data, Yicai found that more than 30 listed companies with zero dividends in the past five years have thrown out profit distribution plans this year.

Listed companies with "zero dividends" have also begun to pay money

In recent years, under the guidance of the policy, the enthusiasm of listed companies for dividends has continued to increase, and this year, both the number of listed companies that have implemented annual dividends and the scale of dividends have reached a record high, and the awareness of listed companies for investor feedback has been significantly strengthened.

According to data from the Association of Listed Companies, in 2023, 3,859 listed companies will issue annual, quarterly and special cash dividend plans, with a total dividend amount of 2.24 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.16%. The average dividend payment rate was 36.91%, an increase of 3.03 percentage points year-on-year, 1,214 companies paid more than 50% of dividends, the average dividend per company was 580 million yuan, 274 dividends exceeded 1 billion yuan, 30 exceeded 10 billion yuan, and 117 loss-making listed companies paid a total dividend of 9.495 billion yuan.

In May ~ June, listed companies concentrated into the implementation period of the dividend plan. Wind data shows that 3,056 listed companies have completed the implementation of annual dividends, with cash dividends exceeding 970 billion yuan. Among them, state-controlled listed companies have become the main force in dividends, and 6 of the 9 listed companies with cash dividends exceeding 10 billion yuan are state-controlled listed companies.

In addition, listed companies that have not paid dividends for many years have also "changed the normal" this year. According to incomplete statistics from Wind data, Yicai found that among the listed companies with zero dividends in the five years from 2018 to 2022, more than 30 have thrown out profit distribution plans this year.

For example, Xunxing shares this year released an annual profit distribution plan, the company based on the existing total share capital of 358 million shares, to all shareholders for every 10 shares of cash dividends of 1.10 yuan (tax included), a total of 39.38 million yuan (tax included) cash dividends.

For Xunxing shares for many years without dividends, some investors asked whether there is a risk of being ST. The company responded that because the CSRC's investigation has not yet been concluded, the audit report issued by the audit institution in recent years is a non-standard unqualified audit opinion with an emphasis paragraph, so it does not meet the conditions for dividends. In recent years, the company has profits and cash flow, and has not implemented cash dividends. It is expected that after the conclusion of the investigation of the case, cash dividends can be arranged during the corresponding period or cash dividends can be realized by amending the Articles of Association.

"Multiple dividends a year" has gradually become a new trend

On the interactive platform, dividends have become a high-frequency word for investors to ask questions, and, compared with previous years, this year, investors are particularly concerned about the medium-term dividend arrangement and multiple dividends a year.

For example, when an investor asked Ping An Bank whether it planned to pay interim dividends, Ping An Bank replied that in the future, the bank would consider the demands of shareholders and regulatory calls, balance the relationship between shareholders' current returns and the long-term development of the bank's business, and flexibly carry out interim dividends based on comprehensive consideration of factors such as performance and capital status, so as to enhance investors' sense of gain.

According to incomplete statistics from Wind data, Yicai found that more than 100 listed companies currently plan to pay interim dividends in 2024.

Taking the insurance sector as an example, Ping An of China, Xinhua Insurance, Chinese People's Insurance and Chinese Life have all arranged medium-term dividend plans. In the banking sector, the six major state-owned banks have all put interim dividends on the agenda. In addition, Minsheng Bank, Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank, Bank of Lanzhou, Bank of Shanghai, Bank of Suzhou, Bank of Nanjing, etc. have also issued relevant announcements on the proposed interim dividend.

In the middle of last year, more than 190 listed companies finally implemented interim dividends, and this number may be far exceeded in the middle of this year.

The new "National Nine Articles" clearly put forward to strengthen the supervision of cash dividends of listed companies. For companies that have not paid dividends for many years or have a low proportion of dividends, major shareholders are restricted from reducing their holdings and risk warnings are implemented.

In accordance with regulatory requirements, the implementation of ST measures for cash dividends that do not meet the standards will be officially implemented from January 1, 2025, and the "last three fiscal years" in the "assessment period" refer to 2022 to 2024, and listed companies affected by the rules need to increase the level of cash dividends during the transition period.

A number of "iron roosters" were named

At the same time, the exchange is also continuing to strengthen the supervision of cash dividends, take timely regulatory measures against violations, and continuously improve the standardization of cash dividends of listed companies.

In recent months, a number of listed companies, including Fangda Special Steel, Jilin Expressway, and Zhaofeng Shares, have been "named and criticized" by regulators for dividends.

For example, in 2017, Zhaofeng shares, which was listed on the GEM, said in the prospectus that the company would distribute dividends in cash, stocks or a combination of cash stocks, and the company could carry out interim cash dividends if conditions permitted. The company is currently in the growth stage, and the company gives priority to cash distribution of profits in the case of sustained profitability, and the annual cash distribution dividend to shareholders is not less than 10% of the distributable profit realized in the current year.

According to the data, the net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company from 2020 to 2023 was 160 million yuan, 126 million yuan, 165 million yuan, and 184 million yuan respectively, and the undistributed profits were all positive, but except for 2021, the company did not fulfill the above commitments in the rest of the years.

This has also attracted a lot of attention from exchanges. On June 14, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange issued a regulatory letter to Zhaofeng shares, requiring the company to learn lessons, rectify in a timely manner, further enhance the awareness of dividends, and improve the level of investor returns. In addition, the Zhejiang Securities Regulatory Bureau also issued a warning letter, deciding to take supervision and management measures against the company by issuing a warning letter, and recorded it in the integrity file of the securities and futures market. After receiving the above letter, Zhaofeng quickly submitted the dividend plan.

A similar situation is also in Jilin Expressway, on April 15, the Shanghai Stock Exchange issued a regulatory inquiry letter to Jilin Expressway. It is required to explain the reasons and reasonableness of the company's cash dividends for many years under the background of high monetary fund balance and many years of profitability.

Jilin Expressway also adjusted the profit distribution plan for 2023 after receiving the letter, before the adjustment was "no profit distribution, no cash dividends, no implementation of share gifts and capital reserve to increase share capital", and after the adjustment, it was "cash dividends of 0.90 yuan (tax included) for every 10 shares, with a total cash dividend of 170 million yuan (cash dividend ratio of 31.14%)".

In addition, on the evening of June 24, Bank of Zhengzhou announced that it had recently received the "Shareholder Inquiry Letter" from the China Securities Small and Medium-sized Investor Service Center, mentioning the profit distribution plan for 2023, and it is planned not to carry out cash dividends, stock dividend distribution, or capital reserve to increase share capital. The investment service center still has doubts about the failure of Bank of Zhengzhou to pay cash dividends, and exercises the right of inquiry of shareholders in accordance with the law.

Bank of Zhengzhou has not paid dividends for four consecutive years, and is the only bank among the 42 A-share listed banks that has not paid dividends in 2023.

(This article is from Yicai)