The effect of specific share repurchases on South African payout ratios: An exploratory study

Abstract

This article reports on an investigation of whether the introduction of share repurchases in 1999 resulted in differences in the dividend payout ratios of South African listed firms. Dividend payout ratios for the two ten-year sub-periods preceding and following the introduction of share repurchases respectively are compared for a sample of repurchasing firms and all listed firms. The results indicate that dividend payout ratios were statistically significantly lower during the ten-year sub-period following the introduction of share repurchases than before. The payout ratios for those firms involved in specific share repurchases, however, were found not to differ significantly from payout ratios in general. Furthermore, the payout ratios of repurchasing firms did not change significantly during the two sub-periods.