Mandarin Oriental International (SGX:M04) Has Announced A Dividend Of $0.035

The board of Mandarin Oriental International Limited (SGX:M04) has announced that it will pay a dividend of $0.035 per share on the 14th of May. Based on this payment, the dividend yield will be 2.7%, which is fairly typical for the industry.

See our latest analysis for Mandarin Oriental International

Mandarin Oriental International Might Find It Hard To Continue The Dividend

We aren't too impressed by dividend yields unless they can be sustained over time. The company is paying out a large amount of its cash flows, even though it isn't generating any profit. This makes us feel that the dividend will be hard to maintain.

If the trend of the last few years continues, EPS will grow by 17.0% over the next 12 months. While it is good to see income moving in the right direction, it still looks like the company won't achieve profitability. Unless this can be done in short order, the dividend might be difficult to sustain.

Dividend Volatility

While the company has been paying a dividend for a long time, it has cut the dividend at least once in the last 10 years. The annual payment during the last 10 years was $0.07 in 2015, and the most recent fiscal year payment was $0.05. This works out to be a decline of approximately 3.3% per year over that time. Generally, we don't like to see a dividend that has been declining over time as this can degrade shareholders' returns and indicate that the company may be running into problems.

The Company Could Face Some Challenges Growing The Dividend

With a relatively unstable dividend, it's even more important to see if earnings per share is growing. Mandarin Oriental International has impressed us by growing EPS at 17% per year over the past five years. It's not great that the company is not turning a profit, but the decent growth in recent years is certainly a positive sign. Assuming the company can post positive net income numbers soon, it could has the potential to be a decent dividend payer.

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. In general, the distributions are a little bit higher than we would like, but we can't ignore the fact the quickly growing earnings gives this stock great potential in the future. We would be a touch cautious of relying on this stock primarily for the dividend income.

Companies possessing a stable dividend policy will likely enjoy greater investor interest than those suffering from a more inconsistent approach. At the same time, there are other factors our readers should be conscious of before pouring capital into a stock. Are management backing themselves to deliver performance? Check their shareholdings in Mandarin Oriental International in our latest insider ownership analysis. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our collection of strong dividend payers.

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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.