Luks Group (Vietnam Holdings) (HKG:366) Has Re-Affirmed Its Dividend Of HK$0.03

The board of Luks Group (Vietnam Holdings) Company Limited (HKG:366) has announced that it will pay a dividend on the 24th of June, with investors receiving HK$0.03 per share. This payment means the dividend yield will be 4.4%, which is below the average for the industry.

View our latest analysis for Luks Group (Vietnam Holdings)

Luks Group (Vietnam Holdings)'s Earnings Easily Cover the Distributions

While yield is important, another factor to consider about a company's dividend is whether the current payout levels are feasible. Luks Group (Vietnam Holdings) is quite easily earning enough to cover the dividend, however it is being let down by weak cash flows. We think that cash flows should take priority over earnings, so this is definitely a worry for the dividend going forward.

Looking forward, EPS could fall by 5.3% if the company can't turn things around from the last few years. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio could be 32%, which we consider to be quite comfortable, with most of the company's earnings left over to grow the business in the future.

Dividend Volatility

Although the company has a long dividend history, it has been cut at least once in the last 10 years. The first annual payment during the last 10 years was HK$0.04 in 2012, and the most recent fiscal year payment was HK$0.06. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 4.1% over that duration. It's encouraging to see some dividend growth, but the dividend has been cut at least once, and the size of the cut would eliminate most of the growth anyway, which makes this less attractive as an income investment.

Dividend Growth Is Doubtful

With a relatively unstable dividend, it's even more important to evaluate if earnings per share is growing, which could point to a growing dividend in the future. Luks Group (Vietnam Holdings) has seen earnings per share falling at 5.3% per year over the last five years. If earnings continue declining, the company may have to make the difficult choice of reducing the dividend or even stopping it completely - the opposite of dividend growth.

The Dividend Could Prove To Be Unreliable

Overall, it's nice to see a consistent dividend payment, but we think that longer term, the current level of payment might be unsustainable. While the low payout ratio is redeeming feature, this is offset by the minimal cash to cover the payments. This company is not in the top tier of income providing stocks.

Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. Still, investors need to consider a host of other factors, apart from dividend payments, when analysing a company. To that end, Luks Group (Vietnam Holdings) has 3 warning signs (and 1 which is significant) we think you should know about. If you are a dividend investor, you might also want to look at our curated list of high yield dividend stocks.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.