Asia Pacific ex-Japan had a subdued three months for dividends during the first quarter of this year as a cut from Australian mining company BHP weighted heavily on the total figure.
Overall dividends for the region came in at $21.5bn during the last quarter, which represented a 2% increase on an underlying basis, according to the latest Global Dividend Index from Janus Henderson.
BHP reduced its dividend by a fifth but still accounted for a quarter of the regional total. If BHP were not included, the region would have seen double-digit growth.
In Australia, BHP’s action more than offset a large increase from Fortescue Metals, meaning that on an underlying basis dividends fell 0.2%.
A big cut from Woodside Energy in April means that Janus Henderson is forecasting a decline for the second quarter too.
China’s total was boosted significantly by Alibaba’s inaugural $2.6bn dividend, which Janus Henderson said will be enough to boost the annual total for the country by almost five percentage points.
Hong Kong experienced an 11.2% underlying increase driven by Hang Seng Bank, while Taiwan’s 9.1% underlying increase was due to Taiwan Semiconductor.
In Japan, growth of 12.1% on an underlying basis was masqueraded at the headline level by a weaker yen.
Most companies made double-digit increases, while semiconductor company Renesas made its first payout in many years, more than offsetting the cut from Japan Tobacco.
Meanwhile, cuts in buybacks among Australian banks brought Asia Pacific ex-Japan’s total down by 40%, offsetting increases in Hong Kong and Korea.
