Portuguese dividends are less attractive
The appreciation of the Lisbon stock market below the peers made Portugal fall in the ranking of the best dividends (compared to the share price).
Portuguese companies are less attractive in shareholder remuneration. In a year in which a record dividend payment is expected at European level (referring to the 2019 results), Portugal falls to fifth place in the attractiveness of profits that will be distributed, this after having been, in 2019, the second country in the world with the highest dividend ratio compared to the share price.
Russia maintained the leadership in the annual ranking of Allianz Global Investors, with a dividend yield (ratio comparing the dividend to the share price) of 7%. In both 2019 and 2018, Portugal was the second best country to find dividends, but this year the situation changed. The United Kingdom, Norway and Spain overtook the country, falling to the fifth position.
Portuguese listed companies are expected to show an average dividend yield of 4.5% in 2020 (against 5.36% last year). The drop will not be related to the dividends themselves but the share price. The Lisbon stock market was one of the least profitable in 2019, a record year for the main European and North American stock markets.
The PSI-20 appreciated 10.2% in what was a better year than 2018 (when the stock market had fallen 12%) but was lower than the previous year. And it was one of the Europeans who added less in 2019: the Stoxx 600 gained 23%. Both the Russian and Greek stock exchanges are up around 50%.
