Shareholders of the stock market heavyweights in Germany receive the highest total dividend for more than 10 years this year. Foreign investors in particular benefit from the almost 51 billion euros (previous year: 36 billion) that the 40 Dax companies distributed to their shareholders for the past financial year, according to a study by the consulting and auditing company EY. Because the major corporations are mostly in the hands of foreign investors.
Almost 27 billion euros in dividends went abroad. EUR 18.3 billion flowed to domestic investors. The remaining amount cannot be assigned exactly.
The dividend for the past financial year will be paid after the respective general meetings in the current year. The sum of almost 51 billion euros is the highest value since the start of the evaluation in 2010.
According to the information, at least 53 percent of the securities of the Dax companies were owned by foreign investors as of December 31, 2021. Investors from Germany held just under 30 percent of the shares. According to EY, another 17 percent of the shares could not be assigned.
International business, international owners
“Germany’s top corporations have developed into international heavyweights in the past,” explained Henrik Ahlers, CEO of EY Germany. They now generate more than half of their sales outside of Europe. “It is only logical that the increasing internationality of the operational business is also reflected in the composition of the shareholders.”
Top dividend payers: Mercedes ahead of Allianz and BMW
Accordingly, the top dividend payer this year was Mercedes-Benz. The car company distributed a total of 5.4 billion euros to shareholders. Of this, 3.5 billion euros went abroad, 1.9 billion to investors from Germany. The insurance group paid the second-highest dividend alliance with a total of 4.4 billion euros – 1.7 billion euros to domestic investors and 2.7 billion euros to investors abroad. The car company bmw was in third place with 3.8 billion euros. The distribution to investors from Germany dominated here with 1.9 billion euros, 1.4 billion euros flowed abroad, according to EY around 560 million euros cannot be assigned. At BMW, the heirs of the Quandt family of industrialists, Susanne Klatten and her brother Stefan Quandt, together hold almost 47 percent of the voting rights.
According to the data, the share of foreign shareholders is highest in the real estate group Vonovia. Only ten percent of the shares are in the hands of German investors. The proportion of German investors is highest at 77 percent Siemens Healthineers, around 75 percent of the medical technology company is owned by Siemens AG.