Santander, BBVA, CaixaBank and Popular have increased their capital by 9% by paying shareholders in dividends of their own stock. Banco Santander introduced the trend. Since 2009 the bank has increased its number of shares by 19% and increased overall solvency.
Still, shareholders get diluted shares and smaller gains. For this reason, many companies are once again paying shareholders cash dividends. ACS started paying cash dividends again last year, but now it has returned to share dividends because of its weak economic position. Overall, the big banks should take a hint and return to paying cash dividends also.
