Bouleversee wrote:I take it nobody bothered to read the I.C. article?
I did - thank you for the link. I note Mr Oakley centres on the use of Free Cash Flow in his discussion on dividend sustainability - something that we have also considered/used here at TLF.
From the article that Bouleversee provided a link to above, P.Oakley says
"Others, such as ITV (ITV), Marks & Spencer (MKS), WPP (WPP) and British American Tobacco (BATS), have dividends that look quite safe on the basis of their current free cash flows. It begs the question as to whether these companies have been harshly treated by the stock market and are in fact good income shares."
(personally I'm not sure about M&S !!)
One of the questions at the end of the article (from a "johnbeattie777") asks for him to perhaps provide guidance regarding the likes of Legal & General & Aviva where he says "both have chequered dividend histories and are not the easiest businesses for an investor to understand." That I would like to see.
Certainly enough in his article to concern holders of CNA, BT, SSE and...TUI (although they are "foreign") .
I didn't see any reference to political and regulatory pressures on the Utes which has also "inflated" the yield (for new buyers).