India Inc holds back on dividends

Dividend by early birds up 1% in FY17, cash-rich firms prefer stock buyback to reward shareholders

The 2016-17 dividend season has started on a poor note for shareholders, with payout to them growing at the slowest pace in three years.

The combined dividend payout by 250 early-bird companies was up only one per cent for 2016-17, down from 2.8 per cent growth in FY16 and a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.8 per cent.

Among the companies on this list are some of corporate India’s biggest dividend payers. They're either paying less dividend for FY17 or have decided to keep it at the same levels as a year before (see chart).

For example, information