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China's dividend superstars mask stinginess of state companies

They are the exception as overall value of state-owned firms' dividends dropped 4.4% in the two years to 2016

Published Wed, Aug 30, 2017 · 5:50 am
The phone carrier is unusual among state-owned enterprises because it managed to boost its cash pile by about 14 per cent from end-2014 through June, while cutting total debt by 52 per cent.

Hong Kong

EYE-CATCHING dividends from PetroChina Co to China Mobile Ltd have got investors excited, hopeful the country's state-run behemoths are heeding Beijing's call to revolutionise their approach to shareholder payouts.

Problem is, they're the exception - not the rule.

Less than half of 334 Chinese central government-controlled companies tracked by Bloomberg have announced higher dividends since 2014, when officials intensified calls for state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to increase them. Excluding China Mobile's payouts, which more than doubled the past two years, and China Shenhua Energy Co - it declared a surprise special dividend in March - the overall value of SOE dividends dropped 4.4 per...

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