Sampo is a dividend company

Sampo's main objective is to create value to its over 100 000 shareholders. Over time, Sampo has profiled itself as a dividend company, providing both attractive dividend yield and stable dividend growth.

In fact, Sampo, with Fiskars, Huhtamäki and Elecster, has the longest dividend growth streak on Nasdaq Helsinki. If the AGM on 19 April approves the Board's proposal of EUR 2.60 dividend per share the dividend will have increased for the ninth consecutive year. This represents 13 per cent increase from EUR 2.30 in the last year.

Sampo plc dividend per share

Sampo’s attractive dividend is the result of profitable businesses that generate stable cash flow. In other words, our subsidiaries’ and associates’ success in insurance and finance sector generates predictable internal dividends to the parent company Sampo plc. These dividends can be paid forward to our shareholders. In addition, our ability to pay dividend is supported by the parent company’s own investment activities and strong balance sheet.

In 2017, Sampo received dividends worth EUR 1,452 million from its subsidiaries, If and Mandatum Life, and associate Nordea. Dividends paid to Sampo’s shareholders in spring 2017 were EUR 1,288 million. The largest dividends Sampo received from If and Nordea. In 2017, If paid dividends worth EUR 620 million and Nordea worth EUR 557 million. Dividends from Mandatum Life were 275 million.

In 2018, for the first time, Sampo will receive dividends also from Topdanmark. In previous years, Topdanmark used to distribute its profit in the form of share buybacks. If the AGM of Topdanmark approves the Board’s dividend proposal of DKK 19 per share, it brings Sampo dividends worth 107 million. The AGM of Nordea, on the other hand, decided that dividend be raised to EUR 0,68 per share, bringing Sampo EUR 585 million. Mandatum Life paid EUR 150 million in dividends in the first fiscal quarter of the year whereas If usually pays dividends at the end of the year.

Dividends received by Sampo plc

Naturally, dividend distribution divides investors’ opinions. For some investors, dividends are the cornerstone of their investing strategy whereas others say that selling some shares for capital gains will do the same thing. It is a valid argument, although eventually the shares will run out and then there’s nothing to sell. It is also difficult to time those sales. Instead, dividends will be paid to shareholders annually as long as the ability to pay dividend is secured.

There is also an entrepreneur’s point of view. A long-term owner of a non-public company is rewarded only in the form of dividends. The sale of the entire company should not be the main objective. The same applies to listed companies too – shares of a profitable, dividend paying company are something you want to hold on tight.

Sampo’s shareholder base includes large income, pension and trust funds that rely on stable dividends. By the same token, a large number of private investors has invested in Sampo because of its dividend.

Our objective is to continue to raise our dividend in the future as well – or as Kari Stadigh, the President and CEO, says: “Our dividend curve should be an eye-catching experience.”