India Inc's dividend payout rises 11% to record ₹5 trn in FY25

But payouts to shareholders grew slowest in five years

- KRISHNA KANT

Companies paid more as dividend to shareholders despite muted growth in revenue and earnings last financial year (FY25).

The combined dividend payout by India's top listed companies was up 10.8 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to a record high of around ₹5 trillion, from ₹4.52 trillion for FY24.

For comparison, these companies' combined net profits (adjusted for exceptional gains and losses) were up 5.2 per cent to ₹16 trillion in FY25 from ₹15.21 trillion a year before.

Their combined net sales (gross interest income in the case of lenders) were up 7.5 per cent Y-o-Y to ₹166.4 trillion in FY25 from ₹154.83 trillion a year earlier.

The analysis is based on a sample of 1,218 companies that are part of the BSE 500, BSE MidCap, and BSE SmallCap indices.

However, the payout, including share buyback, by companies to shareholders was up just 1.2 per cent Y-o-Y to ₹5.08 trillion for FY25 from ₹5.03 trillion, growing at the slowest pace in five years.

There was a sharp decline in share buybacks last financial year to ₹8,034 crore from ₹5.07 trillion in FY24, according to the data from Prime Database. As a result, the dividend payout ratio increased to 31.3 per cent in FY25 from a decade-low of 29.7 per cent in FY24.