Corporate Financial Strategy
4th edition
Dr Ruth Bender
Chapter 13
Dividends and buy-backs
Corporate Financial Strategy
Dividends and buy-backs: contents
Learning objectives
Dividend strategy and the life cycle model
Some factors that might affect dividend policy
Signalling effect of a change in dividends
Reasons for companies to buy back their own shares
Lintner: target dividend pay-out ratio
Corporate Financial Strategy 2
Learning objectives
1. Set out the main arguments in favour of and against companies
paying dividends.
2. Identify different types of dividend policy.
3. Explain why companies might prefer to undertake periodic share
purchases rather than pay dividends.
4. Understand why different types of investor might have a preference for
either dividends or buyouts.
Corporate Financial Strategy 3
Dividend strategy and the life cycle model
Cash availability Profit Dividend policy
availability
Launch No spare cash available. All None. Probably Nil dividend pay-out.
cash is needed for investment making losses.
in developing the business.
Growth Cash is needed for May be profitable. Nil dividend pay-out is
development and investment preferable. However,
in growing market share. new shareholders
might prefer a
nominal pay-out.
Maturity The company is now cash Profitable. A medium to high
positive and has fewer dividend pay-out is
opportunities to invest in preferred.
profitable growth.
Decline The company is cash positive, May be profitable; has Full pay-out of
with no reinvestment potential. retained profits. available cash as
dividend, even in
excess of current
profits.
Corporate Financial Strategy 4
Some factors that might affect dividend policy
Tax regime
To avoid agency issues of holding too much spare cash
Signalling mechanism to the market
Corporate Financial Strategy 5
Signalling effect of a change in dividends
Increase the dividend Decrease the dividend
Interpretation
level level
Good news The company is prospering, The company has changed its
and we can afford to pay out strategy and the directors see
more of our profits without these very profitable investment
damaging our prospects. opportunities, which will provide
more shareholder value than will
mere payment of dividends.
Bad news The directors have run out of Profits and cash flow are falling,
ideas for profitable growth. and the company is facing
trouble in the foreseeable future.
Increasing the dividend level Decreasing the dividend level
could be seen as a signal of could be seen as a signal of
advancing one stage in the life moving back one stage in the
cycle. life cycle.
Corporate Financial Strategy 6
Reasons for companies to buy back their own shares
To increase eps
To increase management’s percentage holding
More flexible than paying a dividend
To buy out weaker shareholders
To give shareholder a choice of how they get their return
To offset eps dilution from share option exercise
Apply to buy-backs but not dividends
Apply to buy-backs and to dividends
To improve management’s business focus by gearing up
To reduce the cost of capital
Corporate Financial Strategy 7
Lintner: target dividend pay-out ratio
Research by Lintner indicated that companies have a target dividend pay-
out ratio, but that they never actually pay that full amount. He suggested
that companies determine their annual dividend based on the following
formula:
DIV1 – DIV0 = a × {(r × eps1) – DIV0}
DIV0 is the dividend paid last year
DIV1 is the dividend to be paid this year
eps1 is the earnings per share this year
r is the target dividend pay-out ratio
a is an adjustment factor.
Corporate Financial Strategy 8