In 2019 I spent a lot of time diversifying from Large Caps with large dividends after get fingers burned with a company failure or two This year sees a strong risk of failure in the Small Caps I migrated to, and my old Large and Mid Caps are cancelling their dividends like there is no tomorrow. I wonder how this will affect the pensions and investment funds, are they between a rock and a hard place?
As I mentioned last week, dividend cuts should only happen proportionately and in line with other cost savings measures (https://www.stockopedia.com/co...).....however this is not the case, and share holders are expected to carry most of the burden of company stress. For the record here is a list of dividend cuts from the FT today (and these are cancellation after announcement, and even after the ex-date):
Dividend cuts (£millions)
25-Mar-20 McBride 1.5
25-Mar-20 Morgan Sindall 17.3
25-Mar-20 Michelmersh Brick 1.1
25-Mar-20 Wilmington 3.7
25-Mar-20 Unite 120.5
25-Mar-20 Volution 3.4
25-Mar-20 Halfords 24.7
25-Mar-20 SSP Group 26.8
25-Mar-20 DFS Furniture 7.9
25-Mar-20 Vitec 12.2
25-Mar-20 Persimmon 751.8
25-Mar-20 Mears 10.7
25-Mar-20 Biffa 13.4
25-Mar-20 Walker Greenbank 1.4
25-Mar-20 Animalcare 1.4
25-Mar-20 Cairn Homes 19.3
25-Mar-20 Ibstock 26.8
24-Mar-20 James Cropper 1.1
24-Mar-20 Forterra 14.8
24-Mar-20 Whitbread 90.1
24-Mar-20 Grafton 29.7
24-Mar-20 Abbey 1.9
24-Mar-20 Shaftesbury 27.7
24-Mar-20 Cambria Autos 0.3
24-Mar-20 Bellway 64.1
24-Mar-20 Vertu Motors 4.1
24-Mar-20 Taylor Wimpey 485.7
24-Mar-20 Redrow 37.0
24-Mar-20 Secure Trust Bank 12.4
24-Mar-20 RPS 4.5
24-Mar-20 Gately 3.4
24-Mar-20 Learning Technologies 3.3
24-Mar-20 Zotefoams 2.1
24-Mar-20 Springfield Properties 1.4
24-Mar-20 Applegreen 1.0
24-Mar-20 K3 BusinessTech 0.8
23-Mar-20 Marshall Motors 4.5
23-Mar-20 Lookers 6.1
23-Mar-20 Filta 0.3
23-Mar-20 Synectics 0.6
23-Mar-20 The Works 1.5
23-Mar-20 ITV 216.2
23-Mar-20 Kingfisher 158.0
23-Mar-20 Aggreko 46.5
23-Mar-20 IWG 41.8
23-Mar-20 Stagecoach 22.3
23-Mar-20 Card Factory (2nd) 21.9
23-Mar-20 Go-Ahead 13.0
23-Mar-20 N Brown 12.0
23-Mar-20 Colefax 0.3
23-Mar-20 Bonhill 0.3
20-Mar-20 Marks & Spencer 132.6
20-Mar-20 InterContinental Hotels 120.4
20-Mar-20 Travis Perkins 83.2
20-Mar-20 Johnson Service 8.7
20-Mar-20 JD Wetherspoon 4.2
19-Mar-20 Crest Nicholson 56.0
19-Mar-20 Playtech 33.9
19-Mar-20 Elementis 26.0
19-Mar-20 NewRiver Reit 16.5
19-Mar-20 PPHE Hotel 8.5
19-Mar-20 Portmieirion 3.1
19-Mar-20 Gym Group 1.6
19-Mar-20 Shepherd Neame 0.9
18-Mar-20 MicroFocus 165.1
18-Mar-20 McCarthy &Stone 18.8
18-Mar-20 Marston's 17.8
18-Mar-20 Restaurant Group 12.4
16-Mar-20 William Hill 46.7
16-Mar-20 Shoe Zone 4.0
11-Mar-20 Costain 12.3
11-Mar-20 Dignity 12.2
10-Mar-20 John Menzies 12.2
26-Feb-20 McColl's Retail 0.7
25-Feb-20 Hammerson 91.2
also before the crisis:
12-Feb-20 INTU 62.3
30-Jan-20 Renishaw 5.1
09-Jan-20 Card Factory 17.1
TOTAL 3347.9