Читать книгу The Dividend Investor - Rodney Hobson - Страница 10

To emphasise, the company must actually have cash available to pay dividends. Profits on paper are no use in this respect. Your house may be worth twice as much as you paid for it but you cannot spend any of that gain unless you actually sell it. Similarly companies may make profits on paper, say from the revaluation of assets, but cash is king.

These rules apply to all companies, irrespective of their size or sector. You may find that companies with heavy capital costs, such as manufacturers and plant hire companies, build up larger distributable reserves to conserve cash. Companies with erratic profits will also want to keep sizable reserves so that they can maintain a steady dividend in good years and bad.

In contrast, companies with strong cash flow and low debts will find it easy to dish out the dosh.