Wealth Monitor April 2016 | Page 41

IN FOCUS | High Dividend Yield Stocks April 2016 | www.wealth-monitor.com Dubai and Abu Dhabi have contracted considerably at 39%, 48% and 10% respectively between June-2014 and March-2016. Given lower valuations, investors can expect capital appreciation along with dividend payouts and would make more sense to invest in such companies. The ideal dividend paying stocks in the ongoing turbulent times would be the ones that have healthy balance sheet and have historically demonstrated dividend growth. Moreover, such companies should also have the potential for growing dividends by growth in free cash flow and earnings. in KSA and thus affecting their margins. The shrinking margins transmitting into lower earnings growth and free cash flow will affect the dividend payouts. Since raising capital has become an obstacle, companies with deteriorating cash profiles would have to choose between distributing earnings back to investors or retain for capital expenditure. However, it is more likely that companies would sacrifice parts of their dividend payments to raise cash needed for operations and expansion. The investors hunger for yields tend to place a premium on the high dividend yielding stocks. However, PE ratios for KSA, Top Dividend Yield Companies - UAE Company MCAP PE Ratio Dividend Dividend Avg Closing 2015 (Current) Yield Yld Dividend Price (USD Mn) (Current) (2015) Yld (2011-15) (AED) Waha Capital PJSC 1,134 7.3 8.9% 9.3% 9.1% Emirates Insurance Co PSC 245 10.1 7.4% 7.4% 8.8% 2.24 6.72 Ras Al Khaimah Ceramics PSC 770 10.15 8.5% 8.6% 8.7% 3.53 Dubai Insurance Co PSC 68 6.7 11.1% 10.0% 8.5% 2.25 Al Ain Ahlia Insurance Co PSC 243 21.6 3.3% 5.8% 8.3% 60 Dubai National Insurance and Reinsurance Co PSC 75 6.9 8.2% 8.3% 7.5% 2.45 2,829 6.6 9.0% 8.0% 7.4% 5.52 National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah PSC National Cement Co PSC 337 12.1 7.9% 7.2% 7.2% 3.5 Air Arabia PJSC 1,714 12.2 6.7% 6.6% 7.2% 1.350 Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Co PJSC (du) 6,295 14.6 6.9% 8.4% 6.9% 6.08 Closing price is as on March 14, 2016. Cut-off date of Mcap 2015 is 31st Dec, 2015 Top Dividend Yield Companies - KSA Company MCAP PE Ratio Dividend Dividend Avg Closing 2015 (Current) Yield Yld Dividend Price (USD Mn) (Current) (2015) Yld (2011-15) (SAR) Saudi Cement Co SJSC 2,685 10.6 7.3% 9.2% 7.8% 63 Qassim Cement Co SJSC 1,701 9.9 7.1% 8.9% 7.6% 64.5 Advanced Petrochemical Co SJSC 1,669 9.3 7.2% 8.0% 7.2% 39.2 Saudi Chemical Co SJSC 973 12.1 8.6% 3.5% 7.1% 48.2 Saudi Arabia Fertilizers Co SJSC 9,309 12.6 5.6% 7.3% 6.8% 69.5 Yanbu Cement Co SJSC 1,850 9.4 7.6% 11.5% 6.8% 48 Yamama Cement Co SJSC 1,722 8.8 7.4% 9.5% 6.6% 28.2 Arabian Cement Co SJSC 1,283 7.5 9.2% 9.5% 6.5% 45 Al Abdullatif Industrial Investment Co SJSC 658 10.4 6.1% 5.2% 6.4% 17.9 Eastern Province Cement Co SJSC 736 9.0 6.6% 7.9% 6.3% 34.5 Closing price is as on March 14, 2016. Cut-off date of Mcap 2015 is 31st Dec, 2015 Source: Reuters, Marmore Research – Sorted based on Avg Dividend Yield Despite the fall in oil prices the payout by the UAE companies in 2014 grew by 19% compared to 2013. The healthy payout by the UAE corporates during 2014 indicated the confidence in the longterm growth potential of UAE due to its relatively diversified economy. However, the scenario for the KSA corporates who operate in an economy which is not as diversified as UAE economy has been different in 2014 where dividend paid out by the KSA corporates contracted by 8% (same as 2015). Most of the companies that have paid out high dividends during 2011 to 2015 in UAE belong to the insurance and banking sector. Air Arabia, du and Ras Al Khaimah Ceramics are the only exceptions. Majority of the top dividend yielding companies are small and large cap companies. Contrary to the stocks in UAE, most of the top dividend yield stocks in KSA are large cap. The high net income of the majority of these companies can be attributed to the subsidies provided by the Saudi Government for the companies operating in the cement and petrochemical sector. The subsidies availed by the companies are in the form of access to cheaper raw materials and fuel. The Saudi cement sector is vulnerable since it is exposed to construction activity in the kingdom, which has been falling with lower state spending. However, since the industry is less burdened by debt (aggregate D/E ratio is 0.18x for KSA Cement Index constituents) than others, it should be able to maintain dividends despite shrinking margins. The KSA and UAE listed companies were mostly sitting on high cash balances, with underleveraged balance sheets, that helped them have high dividend payout ratios. For instance, the average payout ratio of top dividend paying stocks of KSA and USE was 85% and 74% respectively between 2011 and 2015. However, cheap oil is now threatening the pattern of corporate dividends in Saudi Arabia and UAE as companies find it harder to raise funds affecting the health of the balance sheet of companies which have maintained high payout ratios and may find it challenging to sustain the high payout ratios in the coming years. The austerity measures in the form of higher fuel, electricity, natural gas and feedstock prices will raise the costs of doing business for companies especially 39