The UK Dividend Champions October 2016 edition is now available at DividendChampions.UK.
Eight companies were removed from the list this month with two new companies added. Among the 8 lost was an investment trust Champion with 25+ years of dividend growth.
Here’s an overview of the changes in the Calendar Year List this month – there’s a net loss of six companies to the list as 8 were removed and 2 were added.
| Category | October | September | Changes |
| Champions (25+ years) | 9 | 10 | -1 |
| Contenders (10-24 years) | 63 | 62 | +1 |
| Challengers (5-9 years) | 154 | 161 | -7 |
| Near-Challengers (4 years) | 35 | 34 | +1 |
| Total | 261 | 267 | -6 |
New Entries & Promotions
There were 2 new entries and 1 promotion this month.
| Company | Symbol | New Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Hargeaves Lansdown plc | HL. | Contender (10) |
| Barret Developments plc | BDEV | Near-Challenger (4) |
| Blackrock Income Strategies Trust | BIST | Near-Challenger (4) |
Companies removed from the list
The following companies were removed from the list this month.
| Company | Symbol | Old Rank | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ashmore Group plc | ASHM | Challenger (6) | CY 2016 dividend frozen |
| Bond International Software plc | BDI | Near-Challenger (4) | CY 2016 dividend cut & liquidation |
| GVC Holdings plc | GVC | Challenger (5) | CY 2016 dividend frozen due to acquisition |
| The Merchants Trust plc | MRCH | Champion (26) | CY 2016 dividend frozen |
| Plexus Holdings plc | POS | Challenger (7) | CY 2016 dividend cancelled |
| Pressure Tech plc | PRES | Challenger (7) | CY 2016 dividend cut |
| Sepura plc | SEPU | Challenger (6) | CY 2016 dividend cut |
| Wireless Group plc | WLG | Challenger (6) | Acquired by News Corp UK |
Watchlist
The following companies have their dividend growth length highlighted in red in the list to indicate the lowered dividend payment. It’s very likely they will be removed later this year but I’ve not had time to process them yet.
| Company | Symbol | Old Rank | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hargreaves Services plc | HSP | Contender (10) | Interim dividend cut from 10.0p to 1.7p |
| SciSys PLC | SSY | Challenger (7) | Interim dividend suspended |
| Rio Tinto plc | RIO | Challenger (6) | 2016 dividend cut due from new dividend policy |
| Rolls-Royce Holdings plc | RR. | Challenger (6) | 2015 H2 dividend cut |
| Connect Group PLC | CNCT | Challenger (6) | 2015 H2 dividend cut from 6.6p to 6.3p |
Other Updates
There were no other significant company position changes in the list.
Sector Summary
This section shows the companies organized into their stock sectors and the changes in each category from last month.
| Sector | Champions | Contenders | Challengers | Near-Challengers | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic Materials | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| Consumer Goods | 3 | 5 | 14 | 2 +1 | 24 +1 |
| Consumer Services | 1 | 7 | 25 -2 | 6 | 39 -2 |
| Financials | 2 -1 | 17 +1 | 46 -2 | 8 +1 | 73 -1 |
| Health Care | 0 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 10 |
| Industrials | 3 | 21 | 44 -1 | 11 | 79 -1 |
| Oil & Gas | 0 | 0 | 2 -1 | 2 | 4 -1 |
| Technology | 0 | 3 | 11 -1 | 2 -1 | 16 -2 |
| Telecommunications | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| Utilities | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Total | 9 -1 | 63 +1 | 154 -7 | 35 +1 | 261 |
Financial Year Rankings
The Financial Year List is a work in progress and is not as complete as the Calendar Year List. However the dividend history data for these companies is more accurate and complete.
| FY Category | October | September | Changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dividend Growth 25+ years | 16 | 16 | 0 |
| Dividend Growth 10-24 Years | 63 | 61 | +2 |
| Dividend Growth 5-9 Years | 45 | 46 | -1 |
| Dividend Growth 1 to 4 Years | 33 | 32 | +1 |
| Total | 157 | 155 | +2 |
New FY Entries
The following companies were added to the FY Growth List.
| Company | Symbol | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Henderson Smaller Companies IT plc | HSL | Added as a 13-year Contender |
| Travis Perkins plc | TPK | Added as a 6-year Challenger |
| Kier Group plc | KIE | Re-entered list with 1 year growth |
Deleted FY Entries
The following companies were removed from the FY Growth List.
| Company | Symbol | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ashmore Group plc | ASHM | FY 2016 dividend freeze |
Other FY Changes
The table below shows the other changes in the FY list this month for companies with 5+ years of growth.
| Company | Symbol | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Associated British Foods plc | ABF | Increased to 17-year growth |
| First Derivatives plc | FDP | Increased to 12-year growth |
| Hargreaves Lansdown plc | HL. | Promoted to 10-year Contender |
| Smiths Group plc | SMIN | Increased to 6-year growth |
Investment Trusts
The list contains Investment Trusts; you can easily identify them by filtering the Sector column “F” for Equity Investment Instruments, where you can either include or exclude them when viewing the list.
Fundamental Data
Entries in the list that have a “Founded” column have been manually researched and checked. The Dividend per Share and yield for these entries were calculated as of 2nd October.
Dividend yield is calculated as the last 12 months of most recent dividend declarations divided by the current share price. Special dividends are also not included in yield or DPS calculations as a general rule (there are one or two exceptions), so actual yields may be higher.
All dividend history data that I have is posted on DividendChampions.UK. The Excel file limits the length to the last 15 years.
Please keep in mind that the fundamental data will get increasingly out of date as the month progresses. You should always perform your own research and due diligence on any potential stock purchase and nothing in this post or the List is a recommendation to buy or sell.
The List includes AIM-listed companies which may be more volatile than larger FTSE-listed companies. The List includes the index (Column C) and the Market Cap (Column O) which can be used to filter out smaller companies.
List Corrections
Current file version is dated 02-October-16.
02-October-16: Initial release.
Status update
The good: I’ve highlighted companies that are pending removal from the list.
The bad: The said highlighted companies won’t be removed until the November list update.
Summary
It’s been a while since my last update, I’m sorry about that. I hope to return to more regular updates and make The List available on DividendChampions.UK on the first Monday of the month even if I don’t blog about it.
Please let me know if you see any errors in the List, thank you!
Quote of the day
That man is a success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much.