Determinants of Dividend Payout Policy: A Case of Nonfinancial Listed Companies in Vietnam

Abstract

This research examines the determinants that affect the dividend payout ratio of 156 listed companies in the Vietnamese security market during 2009 and 2014. This study considered the influences of ten independent variables including free cash flow, sales growth, company size, financial leverage, profitability and liquidity. The empirical results show that there are three factors having a significant relationship with the dividend payout ratio. Both the return on equity and the financial leverage variables are statistically and negatively significant with the dividend payout ratio; earnings per share are not clearly significant with the dividend payout ratio. Moreover, in the effect on the dividend payout ratio of the different industry sectors, the storage and food industry has a significant relationship with dividend payout ratio and three industries including the agricultural-forestry-fishery industry; mining industry; manufacturing industry statistically have dividend payout ratios higher than other industries.