European Telecom Stocks with Excellent Dividend Yields

Posted by on

The growth of telecom sector in Europe has been flat for a few years now.Some of the fixed line and mobile telecom service provider stocks have become value plays with good dividends. Lets look at eight such telecom stocks from Europe.

1.Deutsche Telekom AG (DTEGY), is a German integrated telecom provider.Currently the stock pays a dividend of 7.98%. The 5-year annual dividend growth rate is 16.09%and the annual revenue is $84.0B.

2. France-based telecom services provider France Telecom (FTE) serves about 170 million customers and the owner of Orange brand. It is also the largest wireless operator in France with nearly half the market share. FTE has a dividend yield of 10.82% and a P/E ratio of 9.04. The annual revenue growth has been flat for the past 5 years. FTE is a consistent performer among its peers in the industry.

3.Magyar Telekom (MTA) is a Hungarian telecom services provider. MTA offers an excellent dividend yield of 11.35%.P/E is 9.25. The stock id down 38% Year-To-Date.Back in January Forbes magazine called it a “Global Undiscovered Gem”. MTA also doubled the dividend over the past six years.

4. The Greek telecom provider Hellenic Telecom (OTE) provides communication services in Greece, Romania,Albania and Bulgaria.The current dividend yield is 7.83% and the P/E is 8.18.Earnings has grown at 5% over the last 5 years.

5.Portugal Telecom(PT) offers a wide range of telecom services in Portugal and Brazil.PT pays a dividend of 10.6% and the P/E is 11.48. The 5-year earnings growth is negative.The annual dividend growth rate is 36.8% and the total revenue is flat over the last five years.

6.Telecom Italia (TI) is an Milan-based Italian company operating in Europe, South American and the Mediterranean Basin. Annual earnings growth over the past 5 years has been extremely negative.TI has planned to announce a strategic change later this year.Dividend yield is 10.29%.

7. The diversified Spanish communications company Telefonica SA (TEF) operates in Spain, Europe and Latin America. The market cap. is $100.5B and the total revenue is $77.5B. TEF pays a 5.63% dividend.The annual Total Revenue and Dividend growth rate is 14.49% and 24.57% respectively.

8.Vodafone (VOD) is UK-based global wireless carrier with operations in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and the United States. The company is growing its subscriber base in the emerging markets of Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa.Currently VOD pays a 9.49% dividend. The annual dividend growth for the past 5 years is 31.16%. In the US, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture between Vodafone and Verizon Communications.

Banco Santander – Best European Bank !

Posted by on

An article titled “A Spanish Bank Emerges as a Winner in Global Crisis” in the German newspaper Der Speigel site says that Banco Santander is the winner among European banks during this credit crisis.The article says:

“As financial institutions worldwide struggle to stay afloat, Banco Santander — now the euro zone’s largest bank by market value — is emerging as one of the few winners in the global economic crisis. With no exposure to toxic U.S. subprime assets, a diversified business spread across Europe and the Americas, and an estimated $68 billion in capital reserves, the bank, based in the port of Santander on Spain’s northern coast, is sailing past troubled rivals.”

Strengths:
No Exposure to US toxic assets
Bought retail branches of UK’s Bradford & Bingley cheap
Acquired British lender Alliance & Leicester cheap
Bought Britain’s Abbey National in 2004
Has Operations through out Latin America
Last year joined with RBS and Fortis to acquire ABN AMRO

Weaknesses:
Loss exposure due to slowdown in British and Spanish housing markets

Santander ADR:
Banco Santander trades on the NYSE with ticker STD.Dividend yield is 4.5%.

Overall STD seems to be a good buy when compared to other battered European banks.

The Complete List of Top Banks Countrywise

Posted by on

Investors have seen the collapse of many banks worldwide since 2007.Some of the collapsed banks include the following:

  • Northern Rock, Bradford & Bingley – UK
  • Fortis – The Netherlands
  • Dexia – Belgium
  • Lehman Brothers, IndyMac, Bear Stearns, Washington Mutual and a few small ones – USA

Today Germany’s second biggest commercial mortgage lender “Hypo Real Estate Bank” is on the verge of collapse as per the BBC article Crisis talks to save German bank.

In this situation, everyone is wondering which bank could be the next and are scrambling to figure out whether their bank deposit is safe.So I thought it will be a good idea to list the top banks in 143 countries of the world. The source of this list is the December 2007 edition of “The Banker” Magazine – the best in Global Financial Intelligence. It will answer your questions about which bank is the best in say Tonga, Nigeria, Nepal, Spain, Panama or even Afghanistan.

Criteria for the selection of this “Bank of the Year Awards” are:

  • “Detailed questionnaires provided by banks.
  • Best overall performance in the previous period incorporating performance criteria, qualitative achievements and strategic initiatives.”

[Note: This is a long post.]

This list below shows The Top Banks of 143 Countries in the World for 2007:
(Source: The Banker)

AFGHANISTAN: STANDARD CHARTERED BANK AFGHANISTAN

ALBANIA: AMERICAN BANK OF ALBANIA

ANDORRA: CREDIT ANDORRA

ARGENTINA: BANCO MACRO (BMA)

ARMENIA: HSBC BANK ARMENIA

AUSTRALIA: WESTPAC (WBK)

AUSTRIA: RAIFFEISEN ZENTRALBANK

AZERBAIJAN: INTERNATIONAL BANK OF AZERBAIJAN

BAHAMAS: FIRSTCARIBBEAN INTERNATIONAL BANK (BAHAMAS)

BAHRAIN: AHLI UNITED BANK

BANGLADESH: BANK ASIA

BARBADOS: BARBADOS NATIONAL BANK

BELARUS: BPS BANK

BELGIUM: FORTIS (FORSY)

BENIN: ECOBANK BENIN

BERMUDA: BANK OF BERMUDA

BOLIVIA: BANCO MERCANTIL SANTA CRUZ

BOSNIA & HERZ: RAIFFEISEN BANK

BOTSWANA: STANDARD CHARTERED BANK BOTSWANA

BRAZIL: BANCO DO BRASIL

BRUNEI: BAIDURI BANK

BULGARIA: UNICREDIT BULBANK

BURKINA FASO: ECOBANK BURKINA

CAMBODIA: CAMBODIAN COMMERCIAL BANK

CANADA: ROYAL BANK OF CANADA (RY)

CAYMAN ISLANDS: FIRSTCARIBBEAN INTERNATIONAL BANK (CAYMAN)

CHILE: BANCO SANTANDER CHILE (STD)

CHINA: ICBC

COLOMBIA: BBVA COLOMBIA

CONGO, DEM REP OF: STANBIC BANK CONGO

COSTA RICA: SCOTIABANK COSTA RICA

COTE D’IVOIRE: ECOBANK COTE D’IVOIRE

CROATIA: PRIVEDNA BANKA ZAGREB

CUBA: BANCO INTERNACIONAL DE COMERCIO

CYPRUS: MARFIN POPULAR BANK

CZECH REPUBLIC: CESKOSLOVENSKA OBCHODNOI BANK

DENMARK: DANSKE BANK (DNSKY)

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: BANCO POPULAR DOMINICANO

ECUADOR: PRODUBANCO

EGYPT: COMMERCIAL INTERNATIONAL BANK

EL SALVADOR: BANCO AGRICOLA

ESTONIA: SEB EESTI UHISPANK

ETHIOPIA: DASHEN BANK

FINLAND: OP BANK

FRANCE: BNP PARIBAS (BNPQY)

GAMBIA: TRUST BANK

GEORGIA: BANK OF GEORGIA
GERMANY: DEUTSCHE BANK (DB)

GHANA: GHANA COMMERCIAL BANK

GREECE: EUROBANK EFG

GUATEMALA: BANCO INDUSTRIAL

GUINEA: INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL BANK

HONDURAS: BANCO DEL PAIS

HONG KONG: HSBC (HBC)

HUNGARY: MKB BANK

ICELAND: GLITNIR BANK *(Nationalized now)

INDIA: ICICI BANK (IBN)

INDONESIA: BANK MANDIRI

IRAN: EN BANK

IRELAND: ANGLO IRISH BANK (AIB)

ISRAEL: BANK LEUMI

ITALY: UNICREDIT

JAMAICA: FIRSTCARIBBEAN INTERNATIONAL BANK (JAMAICA)

JAPAN: MIZUHO FINANCIAL GROUP

JORDAN: JORDAN KUWAIT BANK

KAZAKHSTAN: KAZKOMMERTSBANK

KENYA: BARCLAYS BANK OF KENYA

KOSOVO: RAIFFEISEN BANK KOSOVO

KUWAIT: KUWAIT FINANCE HOUSE

KYRGYZSTAN: ASIAUNIVERSALBANK

LAOS: ANZ VIENTIANE COMMERCIAL BANK

LATVIA: HANSABANKA

LEBANON: BANK AUDI

LESOTHO: STANDARD LESOTHO BANK

LIECHTENSTEIN: VP BANK

LITHUANIA: SEB VILNIAUS BANKAS

LUXEMBOURG: KREDIETBANK

MACAU: SENG HENG BANK

MACEDONIA: NLB TUTUNSKA BANKA

MADAGASCAR: BANK OF AFRICA MADAGASCAR

MALAWI: STANDARD BANK MALAWI

MALAYSIA: CIMB GROUP

MALI: ECOBANK MALI

MALTA: BANK OF VALLETTA

MAURITIUS: HSBC

MEXICO: BBVA BANCOMER

MOLDOVA: MOLDOVA-AGROINDBANK

MONGOLIA: KHAN BANK

MOROCCO: ATTIJARIWAFA BANK

MOZAMBIQUE: STANDARD BANK MOZAMBIQUE

NAMIBIA: BANK WINDHOEK

NEPAL: NIC BANK

NETHERLANDS: ING BANK (ING)

NEW ZEALAND: ASB BANK

NICARAGUA: BANCO DE LA PRODUCCION

NIGERIA: OCEANIC BANK INTERNATIONAL

NORWAY: DNB NOR

OMAN: BANKMUSCAT

PAKISTAN: STANDARD CHARTERED BANK PAKISTAN

PARAGUAY: BBVA PARAGUAY

PERU: BANCO DE CREDITO DEL PERU

PHILIPPINES: BANCO DE ORO UNIBANK

POLAND: PKO BANK POLSKI

PORTUGAL: BANCO ESPIRITO SANTO

PUERTO RICA: SANTANDER BANCORP

QATAR: QATAR NATIONAL BANK

ROMANIA: BRD – GROUPE SOCIETE GENERALE

RUSSIA: SBERBANK

RWANDA: BANQUE COMMERCIALE DU RWANDA

SAUDI ARABIA: SAMBA FINANCIAL GROUP

SENEGAL: ECOBANK SENEGAL

SERBIA: RAIFFEISEN BANKA

SIERRA LEONE: STANDARD CHARTERED BANK SIERRA LEONE

SINGAPORE: DBS BANK (DBSDY)

SLOVAKIA: TATRA BANKA

SLOVENIA: NLB

SOUTH AFRICA: STANDARD BANK

SOUTH KOREA: WOORI BANK

SPAIN: BBVA (BBV)

SRI LANKA: COMMERCIAL BANK OF CEYLON

SWAZILAND: STANDARD BANK SWAZILAND

SWEDEN: HANDELSBANKEN

SWITZERLAND: CREDIT SUISSE (CS)

TAIWAN: FIRST COMMERCIAL BANK

TANZANIA: STANDARD CHARTERED BANK TANZANIA

THAILAND: BANGKOK BANK

TOGO: ECOBANK TOGO

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO: SCOTIABANK TRINIDAD & TOBAGO

TUNISIA: BANQUE DE TUNISIE

TURKEY: YAPI KREDI BANK

TURKMENISTAN: STATE BANK FOR FOREIGN ECONOMIC AFFAIRS

UGANDA: CRANE BANK

UKRAINE: RAIFFEISEN BANK AVAL

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: EMIRATES BANK INTERNATIONAL

UNITED KINGDOM: ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND (RBS)

UNITED STATES: BANK OF AMERICA (BAC)

URUGUAY: ABN AMRO URUGUAY

UZBEKISTAN: PAKHTA BANK

VENEZUELA: BBVA BANCO PROVINCIAL

VIETNAM: HABUBANK

YEMEN: NATIONAL BANK OF YEMEN

ZAMBIA: STANDARD CHARTERED BANK ZAMBIA

ZIMBABWE: STANBIC BANK ZIMBABWE

Related Posts:

Top Banks of the World available as ADRs

The Top 5 British Banks

The Top 10 German Banks

The Top Banks of Canada

The Top 5 Banks of Australia

The Top Ten Banks of China 2007

The World’s 20 Biggest Banks 2008

The Top 10 Banks in the World 2008

The World’s Best Banks 2007

Foreign Pink Sheet Stocks with > 5% Dividend Yield

Posted by on

Many high quality large foreign companies can be found in the Pink Sheets market. These stocks do not attract attention from investors like other stocks traded in the organized exchanges. One need not completely ignore the Pink Sheet stock market just because some of the rogue company stocks trade there. One of the reasons why some of the foreign stocks list their ADRs on the Pink Sheets is because they do not want to follow the expensive regulatory requirements of the Sarbans-Oxley act. Some of the successful companies that trade on the Pink Sheets are Nestle, E.ON, BASF,etc.

To find the top international pink sheet stocks, I ran the stock screener with the following criteria:

1. Dividend Yield > 5%
2. Market Cap. > $5.0B
3. Non-Financial European stocks

The following table shows the list of stocks that met the above criteria:

[TABLE=107]

1. RWE AG (RWEOY) is a Germany-based conglomerate with operations in gas, water,electricity and oil production. RWE has annual revenues of $62B and the 5-year earnings growth is 22.8%. The annual dividend growth rate in the past 5 years is 23.4%.The company depends on coal for more than half of the power generation operation. When RWE announced earnings in August, the half-year annual profit fell to $1.8B this year from $3.9B last year due to higher carbon-tax credit costs.

2.The largest chemical company in the world, BASF SE(BASFY) announced In September that it plans to acquire the Swiss specialty chemical maker Ciba. The 5-year annual revenue and dividend growth is about 10% and 18% respectively. BASFY has a dividend yield of 6.45%.

3.Telstra Corporation Ltd (TLSYY), is a telecom services provider in Australia. Telstra pays a 7.82% dividend and the 5-year annual revenue growth rate is 2.95%.

4.Telenor ASA(TELNY) is a Norway-based mobile telecom services operator serving 143 million customers at the end of 2007.In the past 5 years, annual dividends has grown at 38%.

5.The French construction materials company LaFarge SA(LFRGY) makes cement, concrete, gypsum and other construction related materials. The P/E ratio is 7.27 and the company has a stable earnings growth of 5-6% each year. LaFarge is globally diversified with operations in Eastern Europe, Asia, Middle East and other regions.

6.Bern,Switzerland based Swisscom(SWMCY) provides telecom services in Switzerland and Italy. SWMCY pays a 5.97% dividend. Swisscom has had a negative earnings growth over the last 5 years.

7.Rolls-Royce(RYCEY) is the famous British company that provides power systems for use on land, sea and in the air. The stock is down about 48% in the last 52 weeks.

8.J.Sainsbury plc (JSAIY) “consists of Sainsbury’s, a chain of 504 supermarkets and 319 convenience stores” in the UK. Similar to grocery retailers in the US, Sainsbury has profit margin of just 1.84%.Annual revenue is $32B.

9.UPM-Kymmene Oyj (UPMKY) is a paper and paper products maker in Finland.This company pays a dividend of 7.87%.Due to slowing demand for newsprint worldwide, earnings have turned negative recently.

10.Telecom Austria (TKAGY) provides both fixed line and mobile telecom services to customers in Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Liechtenstein, Serbia, Macedonia, Belarus and the Czech Republic.TKAGY has a dividend of 6.79% and a P/E of 10.48.

Disclosure: None

ETFs to cover Latin America and Europe

Posted by on

In this post lets review two ETFs to cover the largest companies in Latin America and Europe.

A simple and efficient way to invest in foreign companies is via ETFs. In the current market conditions, they offer more advantages than just buying individual stocks. There are hundreds of ETFs on the market in all flavors and color.

If an investor is looking to gain exposure to the top companies of Europe and Latin America, then the following 2 ETFs may be the answer:

1.iShares S&P; Latin American 40 Index Fund (ILF)
This ETF contains 40 of the most liquid company stocks from Mexico and South American markets.

Total Assets = $3.3B

Brazilian stocks form the major part of the portfolio at 67% followed by Mexico.

2. DJ Euro STOXX 50 ETF (FEZ)

This fund invests in the 50 largest companies of Western Europe excluding UK.

Total Assets = $420 M

France and German stocks account for about 63% of portfolio. For more info on this ETF goto: A Look at DJ EURO STOXX 50 ETF: FEZ