VietNamNet Bridge - While leading large conglomerates have decided not to pay dividends or delay payments, small companies whose shares are dirt-cheap are paying high dividends to shareholders. 

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Meinfa (MEF) reportedly has decided to pay a dividend of 40 percent to its shareholders for the 2015 fiscal year, which means that shareholders can expect to receive VND4,000 for every share they hold.

The 40 percent dividend was a a big surprise to investors, because MEF is just a ‘penny stock’. 

MEF is now traded on UpCom at just VND1,000 per share, or just 1/10 of the face value, though it first hit the trading floor at the price of VND34,000 per share.

Though MEF has been available on UpCom since 2011, it never caught investors’ attention and there have been very few transactions, though the company pays attractive dividends of 30-40 percent.

An investor holding MEF shares at VND1,000 per share will now get a profit of 400 percent.

Lilama 45.4 JSC also caused a big surprise when deciding to pay a dividend of VND1,700 for every share, while its L44 share price is at a low level of VND7,200 per share on average. Analysts noted that the share price has dropped to VND3,600 per share.

While leading large conglomerates have decided not to pay dividends or delay payments, small companies whose shares are dirt-cheap are paying high dividends to shareholders.

In 2013, the stock market was shocked when the Phan Thiet Garment Export Company (PTG) paid VND1,000 per share in dividend, when the share had the market price of VND4,200 only. 

Also in 2013, TVG shareholder could receive VND2,000 in dividends, though the shares were traded at VND1,400 only.

In principle, to pay a dividend of VND2,000, the earning per share must be higher than VND2,000, sometimes 3-4 times higher. 

With the average P/E at 10-20, the share price should be VND20,000-40,000 per share. 

In many cases, companies pay a dividend of 40-50 percent when their share prices are traded at VND100,000 per share.

While small companies pay extremely high dividends, some large conglomerates have decided not to pay dividends for 2015. 

The Masan Group, the leading fast-moving consumer goods manufacturer, for example, has announced that it will not pay dividends for 2015, for the seventh consecutive year.

Techcombank has also decided not to pay dividends for the fourth consecutive year, though its pretax profit increased by 44 percent and profit reached VND2.8 trillion.

Meanwhile, PNJ, a jewelry company, offered a modest 10 percent dividend, though its share price is high at VND56,000 per share. 

Share price for Masan, which has not paid dividends for many years, is VND70,000.

M. Ha