A-shares Annual Report Dividend Season: 80% of Companies Distribute Real Cash. How to Identify High-Dividend Targets?

Ask AI · How should investors evaluate the sustainability of high-dividend companies?

According to a report from China National Radio and Television (CNR) Beijing on March 30 (reporter Wang Ying), as reported by Economic Focus, “Tianxia Caijing” from the Economic Voice of the Central Radio and Television Station, the disclosure season for 2025 annual reports of A-share listed companies is currently in full swing. The latest data shows that among the companies that have already released their results, more than 80% have put forward cash dividend proposals, and 11 leading enterprises have even splashed out more than 10 billion yuan to reward shareholders. What does this reflect about changes in the market ecosystem?

As the 2025 annual report disclosure period moves into a dense phase, the “earnestness” in dividends in the A-share market continues to be released. Zhang Gang, Chief Investment Consultant at Southwest Securities, said: “As of March 28, the number of A-share, Shenzhen, and Beijing exchange-listed companies that have completed the disclosure of their 2025 annual reports is 730, of which 582 have annual reports with dividend distribution proposals, accounting for nearly 80%. Looking back at the 2025 interim reports, the total number of listed companies with dividend plans was 814, reaching 15% of the overall number of listed companies. In other words, it is in the best dividend distribution situation in history, and we also expect the proportion of listed companies distributing dividends in the 2025 annual reports to remain at a similarly high level.”

From an industry distribution perspective, dividend “mainstays” remain concentrated in foundational sectors such as finance and energy, but the dividend capacity of emerging industries is also quietly improving. Gui Haoming, a market participant, said: “Overall, dividends are still concentrated in some foundational industries, and in some manufacturing sectors. However, for emerging industries and high-tech sectors, their profitability is also improving noticeably, and this has already been reflected in the level of dividends.”

Specifically, the dividend strategies of key segments such as finance, energy, and technology manufacturing show clear differences. In particular, the dividend logic of traditional energy and that of leading new-energy companies are clearly distinct.

Zhang Gang analyzed: “From the industry perspective, for financial listed companies—especially listed banks—their dividends are relatively stable. For the new-energy sector, currently we can see a significant increase in dividends, especially lithium batteries; the dividend amounts are clearly higher than the amounts distributed for 2024, and net profit has also achieved a substantial year-over-year growth. As for technology manufacturing companies, although net profit has grown significantly year over year, the distribution amounts have not changed much compared with 2024, reflecting that these companies may have urgent needs for cash flow—or for funding to expand production. In addition, in the context of new energy vehicles, there is a situation of ‘increased revenue but not increased profit.’ Looking ahead to subsequent profit prospects, it likely depends more on how well these related companies can expand in overseas markets.”

In the face of the dazzling “cash dividend storms,” how should ordinary investors identify them in practice? Zhang Gang recommends that you can’t just look at the absolute value of a single dividend; instead, you should extend the time horizon, and observe the continuity and stability of a company’s dividend payments.

“First, you need to look at its historical distribution situation—whether in each past year the distribution amounts have had large fluctuations. Also, you need to consider that some listed companies might suddenly become very generous with dividends, but in history they may also have had periods with no distributions; if that’s the case, it may indicate that the execution of its dividend policy is not very stable. Ordinary investors, when focusing on high-dividend stocks, need to consider the stability of the company’s performance, because this affects the stability of its dividend amounts. You also need to closely track the direction of industry business conditions.” Zhang Gang said.

Besides focusing on the stability of dividends, the company’s performance, and industry business conditions, Gui Haoming also further reminds investors from a practical standpoint: “First, the number of dividend payments and the specific dividend yield are still different. Some dividends may be very large, but the overall share ‘s base’ is also large, and in reality the amount that can be distributed per share may not be much—you still need to look at what the dividend payout ratio per share is. Second, you also need to pay attention to the company’s actual capacity for dividend payments. Some companies may not have great operating conditions, but for one reason or another they may still take out a large amount of money to pay dividends. Third, among dividends there is another form: stock dividends. In the past, people also treated stock dividends as a kind of theme for speculation. For some cases with a very high proportion of stock dividends or capital reserve conversion into shares, you also need to see whether the company’s profits will be clearly diluted.”