It's not surprising that the majority of this year's dividend stock picks of fund managers and market analysts are from two of the better performing markets of the region: Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Companies here have been witnessing double-digit growth in their revenue, in part as a result of increased government spending. The Qatar stock index ended 2011 with a positive return of 1.5 per cent and Saudi Arabia was the second best performing market, closing down 3.1 per cent.
The dividend yield — the ratio of payouts to share price — has been fairly strong in the region, especially when compared to their peers in emerging and developed countries over the last two years. In 2011, among the larger regional markets, Kuwait had a yield of 5.6 per cent, followed by Dubai (4 per cent), Qatar (3.9 per cent) and Saudi Arabia (3.8 per cent). The smaller markets of Oman and Bahrain boasted yields of between 5 per cent and 6 per cent.
In contrast, the S&P500 Index yield stood at 2 per cent, Dow Jones Industrial Average Index at 2.5 per cent and MSCI Emerging Markets Index at 3 per cent last year.
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