For
our
income
special
report
week,
we’ve
whipped
out
the
atlas
and
cast
our
gaze
beyond
the
borders
of
our
normal
UK
income
search.
Which
countries
and
companies
are
more
likely
to
offer
high
yielding
opportunities?
In
a
period
of
high
inflation
and
soaring
interest
rates,
high
yields
are
even
more
prized
by
investors.
Getting
an
extra
few
percentages
on
your
return
can
make
a
big
difference.
UK
investors
have
recently
seen
cuts
to
the
dividend
tax
allowance,
affecting
those
investing
outside
of
the
ISA
wrapper,
but
income
remains
high
on
the
agenda
for
many.
As
such,
we
run
a
monthly
list
on
the
top
yielders
in
the
FTSE
100.
A
key
feature
in
this
article
is
consistency
–
something
we’ll
be
discussing
in
a
bit.
The
balance
between
high
yields
and
consistent
income
can
be
hard
to
strike
so
we’ve
created
not
one,
but
two
maps
of
the
highest
dividend
payers
in
Europe.
To
identify
our
stocks,
we
have
used
Morningstar
Direct
to
select
European
companies
that
have
paid
dividends
at
some
point
since
the
start
of
2022
and
have
an
expected
dividend
yield
(the
formula
for
calculating
dividend
yield
is
to
divide
the
annual
dividend
paid
per
share
by
the
current
stock
price).
Yielders
of
the
Moment
At
the
moment,
the
highest-yielding
markets
are
Norway,
Hungary,
Romania
and
Iceland.
On
average,
Norwegian
stocks
offering
dividends
are
expected
to
yield
17.83% –
much
of
this
due
to
a
few
stocks.
PasientSky
(PSKY),
for
example,
is
currently
yielding
480%.
The
healthtech
company
recently
sold
two
of
its
subsidiaries
and
is
paying
out
NOK
2.50
(19p)
per
share
(while
currently
trading
at
NOK
0.52).
It’s
a
similar
story
for
the
second-highest
yielder
in
the
country,
Hunter
Group
(HUNT),
an
oil
and
shipping
investor
that
has
just
sold
its
last
oil
tankers.
As
a
result,
it’s
paying
out
special
dividends,
bringing
expected
yield
to
457%.
Meanwhile,
the
highest
yielder
of
all,
French
Neocom
Multimedia
(MLNEO)
has
sold
its
business
and
is
liquidating,
paying
out
a
final
dividend
of
€2.10
per
share.
According
to
our
data,
this
makes
for
a
700%
expected
yield.
There’s
only
one
Morningstar-rated
stock
in
this
top
list
and
that’s
shipping
giant
Moller
Maersk
(MAERSK)
in
Denmark,
yielding
16.56%
and
trading
below
what
we
believe
is
its
fair
value
with
a
4-star
rating.
What
About
the
Longer
Term?
When
we
look
at
the
five-year
average
yield,
the
picture
is
a
lot
more
muted
–
and
the
yields
overall
lower.
The
highest
average
for
one
country
lies
with
Bosnia
and
Herzegovina,
and
that’s
mainly
because
we
only
see
one
stock
there
with
a
five-year
history
of
paying
dividends,
with
no
other
stocks
to
balance
out
the
yield.
As
my
colleague
Danny
Noonan
explains,
a
high
dividend
could
indicate
a
cut
may
be
looming,
and
investors
may
be
making
a
mistake
if
they
simply
choosing
companies
that
offer
the
highest
yields.
Our
recent
survey
of
real
estate
investment
trusts
and
housebuilder
shares
in
the
UK
shows
some
chunky
yields
on
offer –
but
these
follow
some
heavy
falls
in
share
prices
in
2022.
(Yield
is
a
function
of
share
price:
when
the
price
goes
up,
the
yield
goes
down,
and
vice
versa.)
When
seeking
out
dividend-paying
companies,
it’s
important
to
know
whether
the
dividend
has
risen
over
time – an
economic
moat
may
give
you
an
idea
whether
a
company
will
continue
to
do
this.
In
our
map
below
of
the
companies
with
the
highest
average
dividend
over
the
past
five
years,
only
one
company
has
been
assigned
an
economic
moat
by
our
analysts
(out
of
a
total
of
four
rated
stocks):
Proximus
SA
(PROX),
the
Belgian
telecom
operator.
It
has
a
narrow
economic
moat
and
is
trading
in
5-star
territory
after
its
share
price
was
slashed
in
half
last
year.
The
other
three
rated
stocks
are
Spanish
Telefonica
(TEF),
Switzerland’s
Swiss
Re
(SREN),
and
UK’s
Persimmon
(PSN)
–
4,
4
and
5
stars,
respectively.
Persimmon,
a
bellwether
for
the
UK
housing
market,
lost
57%
last
year
as
investors
priced
in
a
housing
crash.
Despite
a
tentative
recovery
so
far
this
year,
the
shares
are
considered
to
be
significantly
undervalued
according
to
Morningstar
metrics.
For
the
UK,
we’re
hovering
just
below
the
median
for
five-year
averages.
All
the
three
top
yielders
(Persimmon
is
joined
by
Sword
Group
and
Hansard
Global)
have
paid
an
average
dividend
of
over
10%,
but
the
overall
average
is
3.26%.
The
housebuilder
did,
however,
issue
a
profit
warning
in
March
and
said
it
would
slash
its
dividend
by
75%.
As
my
colleague
James
Gard
explained
in
a
video
at
the
time,
this
year’s
outlook
for
Persimmon
is
gloomy,
with
forecasts
for
a
big
drop
in
home
sales
as
the
housing
market
slowdown
accelerates.
Morningstar
analysts
have
lowered
their
profit
forecasts
and
fair
value
estimate
after
the
results
–
and
as
mentioned,
the
analysts
now
insist
that
shares
are
undervalued.
Besides
Bosnia
and
Herzegovina,
Lithuania
and
Slovenia
have
the
highest
5-year
dividend
(9.29%
and
7.49%).
In
the
expected
yield
map,
we
see
Spain
represented
by
all
real
estate
investment
trusts
in
the
top
three.
SOCIMIs,
as
they
are
called
in
Spain,
by
law
distribute
100%
of
profits
from
dividends
and
at
least
50%
of
profits
from
the
transfer
of
real
estate
and
shares
in
subsidiaries.
Plus,
they
have
to
distribute
at
least
80%
of
the
rest
of
the
profits
too.
But
even
here,
these
stocks
fall
off
the
top
three
in
the
longer
term,
getting
replaced
by
media
and
telecoms,
among
others.
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