Latest news with #SwatchGroupAG
Straits Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Malaysia rejects LGBTQ culture, orders probe into pride event
Any effort to normalise LGBTQ is against the Federal Constitution, existing laws and official policy, said a minister. PHOTO: REUTERS KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia said it opposes LGBTQ culture in the country and has ordered an investigation into a coming pride event that went viral on social media. Any effort to normalise LGBTQ is against the Federal Constitution, existing laws and official policy, said Datuk Dr Mohd Na'im Mokhtar, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs) in a statement late on May 28. Mr Naim ordered authorities, including the police, to take appropriate action should there be a breach of any law in the planned programme with the theme 'Pride Care: Queer Stories & Sexual Health Awareness.' 'Organising a programme like this, even though closed, clearly challenges social norms and religious values that the majority of Malaysians adhere to,' he said. He urged the organisers to immediately cease any activities that 'violated the nation's laws and society's moral values.' Religious agencies were prepared to take authoritative action should Muslims be involved, he added. Since taking power, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's government has clamped down on pride culture in its bid to appease the country's Muslim majority. The administration confiscated rainbow-themed watches from Swatch Group AG's stores and abruptly cancelled a music festival after two band members shared a same-sex kiss on stage. 'I urge all quarters to together defend our society's social and moral structures from any elements that can hurt the country's faith, morality and harmony,' Mr Naim said on May 28. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Swatch Group (VTX:UHR) Is Paying Out Less In Dividends Than Last Year
The Swatch Group AG's (VTX:UHR) dividend is being reduced from last year's payment covering the same period to CHF4.50 on the 27th of May. The dividend yield of 3.0% is still a nice boost to shareholder returns, despite the cut. Our free stock report includes 2 warning signs investors should be aware of before investing in Swatch Group. Read for free now. If the payments aren't sustainable, a high yield for a few years won't matter that much. Before this announcement, Swatch Group was paying out 121% of what it was earning, and not generating any free cash flows either. This high of a dividend payment could start to put pressure on the balance sheet in the future. Looking forward, earnings per share is forecast to rise exponentially over the next year. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate that the payout ratio could reach 37%, which is in a comfortable range for us. View our latest analysis for Swatch Group The company has a long dividend track record, but it doesn't look great with cuts in the past. Since 2015, the dividend has gone from CHF7.50 total annually to CHF4.50. This works out to be a decline of approximately 5.0% per year over that time. Generally, we don't like to see a dividend that has been declining over time as this can degrade shareholders' returns and indicate that the company may be running into problems. With a relatively unstable dividend, it's even more important to evaluate if earnings per share is growing, which could point to a growing dividend in the future. Over the past five years, it looks as though Swatch Group's EPS has declined at around 23% a year. This steep decline can indicate that the business is going through a tough time, which could constrain its ability to pay a larger dividend each year in the future. Over the next year, however, earnings are actually predicted to rise, but we would still be cautious until a track record of earnings growth can be built. Overall, the dividend looks like it may have been a bit high, which explains why it has now been cut. The company seems to be stretching itself a bit to make such big payments, but it doesn't appear they can be consistent over time. We don't think that this is a great candidate to be an income stock. Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. Still, investors need to consider a host of other factors, apart from dividend payments, when analysing a company. To that end, Swatch Group has 2 warning signs (and 1 which is a bit unpleasant) we think you should know about. If you are a dividend investor, you might also want to look at our curated list of high yield dividend stocks. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The past three-year earnings decline for Swatch Group (VTX:UHR) likely explains shareholders long-term losses
The Swatch Group AG (VTX:UHR) shareholders should be happy to see the share price up 11% in the last quarter. But that doesn't help the fact that the three year return is less impressive. In fact, the share price is down 38% in the last three years, falling well short of the market return. On a more encouraging note the company has added CHF412m to its market cap in just the last 7 days, so let's see if we can determine what's driven the three-year loss for shareholders. See our latest analysis for Swatch Group While the efficient markets hypothesis continues to be taught by some, it has been proven that markets are over-reactive dynamic systems, and investors are not always rational. One way to examine how market sentiment has changed over time is to look at the interaction between a company's share price and its earnings per share (EPS). Swatch Group saw its EPS decline at a compound rate of 37% per year, over the last three years. In comparison the 15% compound annual share price decline isn't as bad as the EPS drop-off. This suggests that the market retains some optimism around long term earnings stability, despite past EPS declines. With a P/E ratio of 47.81, it's fair to say the market sees a brighter future for the business. The image below shows how EPS has tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail). This free interactive report on Swatch Group's earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further. It is important to consider the total shareholder return, as well as the share price return, for any given stock. The TSR incorporates the value of any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings, along with any dividends, based on the assumption that the dividends are reinvested. It's fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. We note that for Swatch Group the TSR over the last 3 years was -32%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return. Swatch Group shareholders are down 12% for the year (even including dividends), but the market itself is up 14%. Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 1.6% over the last half decade. We realise that Baron Rothschild has said investors should "buy when there is blood on the streets", but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Swatch Group better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Swatch Group (1 can't be ignored!) that you should be aware of before investing here. We will like Swatch Group better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued stocks (mostly small caps) with considerable, recent, insider buying. Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on Swiss exchanges. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Bloomberg
30-01-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Swatch Profit Plunges Almost 75%, Hit by Weakness in China
Swatch Group AG profit fell sharply in 2024 thanks to a drop in sales led by a slump in Chinese consumer demand. Operating profit fell to 304 million Swiss francs ($335 million), below analyst estimates and almost 75% lower compared with the previous year. Sales dropped 12.2%, it said in a statement Thursday.
