04-19-2015, 08:45 AM
The strong USD has been a major headwind and I personally think that this situation will continue. However they are working on shedding some of the non-profitable and low-margin products and concentrating on a much more smaller core portfolio of those brands that actually bring in the cash. This will lower expenses and the cash received from the sale of some of those assets will most likely be used for share buybacks and lowering debt.
The payout ratio has gotten pretty high but unless the currency situation gets a lot worse I think their dividend is safe. Just don't be expecting any 10% increases like we have seen some of the past years, 2-5% seems more likely for the next couple of years.
The payout ratio has gotten pretty high but unless the currency situation gets a lot worse I think their dividend is safe. Just don't be expecting any 10% increases like we have seen some of the past years, 2-5% seems more likely for the next couple of years.