The new crisis keeps most of our minds busy. It’s actually hard to avoid, because almost every conversation mentions the “C”-word and you can’t avoid getting exposed to it either when watching the good old telly.
Having said that, there was again more than enough going on in my mind and the 5-bullets from this week highlight some of those.
Enjoy the read!
#EuropeanDividends #Euroshop #DividendCut #HeidlebergCement #GEA #PlanPlanPlan #CashIsKing #WhoToBlame #RythmOfTheNight
5-Bullet Sunday is a weekly blog post with 5 topics that were on my mind this week related to Financial Independence and Dividend Growth Investing or something that just fed my curiosity. An overview of other earlier posts can be found here
🌟 European dividend increases
Not a lot to report on this week, but 3 European Dividend Champions announced their results and their dividend proposals:
Deutsche EuroShop AG ($ETR:DEQ) decided to suspend its 1.55 Euro dividend proposal until further notice as a precautionary measure after 17 years without a dividend cut. Effectively all shops are currently closed and this is expected to have a major impact. The company mentions that it doesn’t intend to change its dividend policy.
HeidelbergCement AG ($ETR:HEI) announced to increase its dividends by 5% to 2.20 Euro per share. This is their 11th consecutive year of dividend increases and the stock yields 6.6% at today’s share price of 33.36 (40% payout ratio).
GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft ($ETR:G1A) announced to remain the dividend the same as previous year at 0.85 Euro per share. This is their 10th consecutive year without a dividend cut and the stock yields 4,98% at today’s share price of 17,07.
As you can see from these announcements. The crisis is kicking in and you really want to avoid brick & mortar retailers. I can’t see how they can make any profit this year. The margins in the industry were already low, so losing at least a month of revenue is killing for most of them.
🌟 Stay calm and Plan next steps
By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail
Benjamin Franklin
I personally find this a great quote from Benjamin Franklin and it resonates a lot with me. Earlier this week I wrote my own approach to investing during this crisis, but I also wanted to let you know about what few others are doing or recommending so that you get some different viewpoints:
- Pollies Dividend: Plan for the upcoming weeks
- Groeigeld: no additional mortgage payments (in Dutch)
- FighttoFire: 5 tips and suggestions (scroll down in post)
- Budgetman: the bear has escaped, what now? (in Dutch)
Let me also know what your plan is and if you have a link to it, feel free to share it in the comment section. I truly believe that more ideas will lead to better solutions in the community 💪.
🌟 Cash is king
In our community it is pretty well known that it’s good to have an emergency fund for a rainy day. Well, rain has come and some of us will need an umbrella now.
Why would the emergency fund philosophy be any different for corporations?
I think this CNBC article explains it very well and it’s my recommended read for this week. It also lists a lot of companies that might get into trouble now. As an example, Delta Airlines is having less than a month of cash on hand to cover their expenses!
🌟 The blame game is on!
My video recommendation is a great interview with Social Capital CEO Chamath Palihapitiya. The first person that I find articulating the reasons leading into this crisis in a very understandable manner. He also touches on the notion of being able to speak-up earlier if you just didn’t know who’s “cheating” yet.
🌟 Corona triggers
Okay, another video then, but nothing related to investing. It just triggered my attention this week that the artist of one of my favorite songs from when I was a teenager is called Corona. How awkward is this then?
Anyway, let’s bring back some youth sentiment while most of us are working from home these days. Let’s listen to it with a corona beer!
This was it for the week and I hope that you enjoyed this week’s 5-Bullet Sunday.
Stay calm, Invest wisely and keep on humming.
For now, have a great remainder of the Sunday!
Yours Truly,
— European Dividend Growth Investor
Are you wondering what stocks I own and how many of them?
Leave your email behind and receive a link with an overview of my full portfolio.
Disclaimer
I’m not a certified financial planner/advisor nor a certified financial analyst nor an economist nor a CPA nor an accountant nor a lawyer. I’m not a finance professional through formal education. I’m a person who believes and takes pride in a sense of freedom, satisfaction, fulfillment and empowerment that I get from being financially competent and being conscious managing my personal money. The contents on this blog are for informational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute financial, accounting, or legal advice. I can’t promise that the information shared on my blog is appropriate for you or anyone else. By reading this blog, you agree to hold me harmless from any ramifications, financial or otherwise, that occur to you as a result of acting on information provided on this blog.
