9 December 2010

In May each year, after publication of the annual results, I publish a list of the large companies in Europe with the highest dividend yields.

This article is an update on the performance of the 13 May 2010 article that can be found here:

Europe’s highest dividend yields 2010 ? 13 May 2010

The performance of the top dividend payers has been very good with both the top 10 and my selection outperforming the European STOXX 600 index.

The top 10 European highest dividend payers generated an average return (including the dividend) of 9,3% outperforming the European STOXX 600 index 5,4%.

This is higher than my selection which returned and average of 6,9% also outperforming the STOXX 600 index by 3,1%.

The top performer, up nearly 41%, was Seadrill, the Norwegian contract drilling company. Of course the company I did not select.

And the worse performer BP Plc, down 17,7% due to the explosion of its drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico.

 

 

Surprising was the poor performance of the German electricity utilities E.ON (-6,4%) and RWE (-13%) down nearly as much as BP. These declines were most likely caused by tax uncertainty in Germany, specifically around the special tax on nuclear power stations.

I think the decline is completely overdone and RWE with a current yield of 7,25% and E.ON at 6,74% are both really attractive.
Source: Financial Times

Here is the complete table of returns:

My PicsNamePriceIndustryDividend yield (%) 13.05.10Total ReturnPerformance against STOXX 600 IndexPrice 02.12.10
1DEUTSCHE TELEKOM AG-REG8.80Telephone-Integrated8.921.9%18.1%9.95
2FRANCE TELECOM SA16.15Telephone-Integrated8.75.7%1.9%15.67
3VIVENDI18.13Multimedia7.715.2%11.3%19.48
SEADRILL LTD147.70Oil&Gas Drilling6.940.8%36.9%197.7
BP PLC549.20Oil Comp-Integrated6.7-13.8%-17.7%436.15
ENEL SPA3.83Electric-Integrated6.51.8%-2.0%3.65
SCOTTISH & SOUTHERN ENERGY1077Electric-Integrated6.29.7%5.8%1114
ENI SPA16.47Oil Comp-Integrated6.10.2%-3.6%15.51
4ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC-B 1816Oil Comp-Integrated6.014.8%10.9%1975
NATIONAL GRID PLC608Electric-Transmission6.0-3.4%-7.3%550.5
5E.ON AG25.32Electric-Integrated6.0-6.4%-10.2%22.2
6RWE AG59.58Electric-Integrated5.9-13.0%-16.9%48.3
7GDF SUEZ25.87Electric-Integrated5.85.4%1.6%25.77
8TOTAL SA40.23Oil Comp-Integrated5.7-1.6%-5.5%37.29
9VODAFONE GROUP PLC139Cellular Telecom5.724.0%20.2%164.55
10TELEFONICA SA17.20Telephone-Integrated5.43.3%-0.5%16.83
MUENCHENER RUECKVER AG106.00Reinsurance5.49.1%5.2%109.85
BANCO SANTANDER SA9.50Commer Banks Non-US5.1-12.6%-16.4%7.82
GLAXOSMITHKLINE PLC1187.5Medical-Drugs5.18.0%4.1%1222
DEUTSCHE POST AG-REG11.93Transport-Services5.09.0%5.2%12.41
ASTRAZENECA PLC2850Medical-Drugs5.011.1%7.2%3032.5
ALLIANZ SE-REG83.03Multi-line Insurance4.99.0%5.1%86.37
TELECOM ITALIA SPA1.03Telephone-Integrated4.8-1.0%-4.8%0.97
BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO2069Tobacco4.817.9%14.1%2340
BAE SYSTEMS PLC339.6Aerospace/Defense4.71.2%-2.7%327.6

If you are still not convinced of the benefits of investing in high dividend paying companies this will be worth your time.

Tweedy Browne, the well known value investment management company has published an excellent research report on their website that summarises all the research on high dividend investing in one place.

The paper can be found in the Research and Reports part of their website and is called:

My previous European high dividend yield articles can be found here:

Europe’s highest dividend yields 2010 ? 13 May 2010

Europe’s highest dividend yields 2010 ? Update ? 5 November 2009

Europe’s highest dividend yields 2009 ? 22 May 2009

Happy dividend hunting

Tim du Toit