Thanks for the great insights into dividends relating to valuation.I venture a reason why such stocks tend to be given better and added valuation. A company regularly paying dividends communicates it's caring for it's minority shareholders and just management. Even better if the dividend yield matches the common bank FD rates and is sustainable. Growing dividend yields further communicate that net earnings are growing and hence the stock gets a higher rating by it's shareholders. Not giving any dividends/ only giving a miserable dividend yield year after year in spite of healthy growing retained earnings only arouse suspicions that the controlling shareholders are up to no good, and they could be planning privatisation exercises at a low price to it's true value. Yet such exercises would be usually be approved albeit with comments like the offer price is "unfair" but "reasonable" - in actual fact the minority shareholders get shortchanged of their true share of the stock! Hence the many "value traps" in Bursa - it actually becomes irrelevant to count their true value because the controlling party has no intention of sharing the fruits equitably with the minority party!

Silverhawk: Hope so, but why do you think so? Wouldn't the MFRS 9 accounting depress the net income for at least 12 months?

In Melaka, go watch "Encore Melaka" show. Worth it.

KC,

Of course FA analysis cannot guarantee continued good/excellent performance of any company - but it is one of the most important tool, if not the most important, to indicate a company's future health/performance. It is no less a detailed resume' of the entity, in this case the company, even if it is about it's immediate past.Like when a person applies for a job, the potential employer often depends on his resume'( which is his/her past) to make a decision whether the person will be a good and capable employee - there is also no certainty that he/she would be so. FA is actually better than this analogy. If FA indicates the company has lots of FCF, giving consistently growing dividend yields far better than FD returns, a proven honest and clever management, and high ROIC and in a type of business where it may have a moat, the chances of that being a wrong investment is really very low. In fact the reality is the chances of it being a very good investment is very high. Nothing is certain in life and in choices for investment but we can take good calculated risks using FA as a tool.

Thank you KC for your continuing excellent articles.