2020年经济学人 公司大幅削减股东的派息

Business

商业

Dividends¹ and buy-backs

股息和回购

Chop chop

加油加油

Companies are slashing² payouts to their owners

公司大幅削减股东的派息

Shareholders³ the world over have had a rotten 2020.

2020年对全世界的股东而言都很糟糕。

Some might have hoped the collapsing⁵ value of their portfolios⁶ would at least be in part offset⁷ by dividends—the profits firms pay out to owners.

一些股东可能希望他们的投资损失可以通过股息得到部分弥补——股息是指公司支付给所有者的利润。

Others were counting on companies to buy back their own shares.

其他股东则指望公司回购自己的股票。

As corporate⁸ earnings⁹ season kicks off, both groups have little to look forward to.

随着企业财报季拉开帷幕，持有这两种心态的股东都不抱什么希望了。

Blame poor performance, present and expected.

这都归咎于现在和预期的行情不佳。

Dividends and buy-backs are a sign of profits and confidence, both in short supply in a pandemic.

股息和回购是利润和信心的象征，但在疫情形势下，这两者都是供不应求的。

Derivatives¹⁰ markets where investors¹¹ can bet on the size of dividends imply these will fall by at least a quarter in America.

投资者可以押注股息大小的衍生品市场表明美国的股息至少将减少四分之一。

If the crisis of 2007-09 is anything to go by, buybacks (popular mainly among American firms for tax reasons) will be halved¹².

如果2007-09年的危机可以作为参考的话，回购(因税收原因主要在美国公司中比较受欢迎)将会减半。

All told, global payouts to share holders⁴ are expected to tumble from $2.2trn in 2019 to $1.4trn this year, according to The Economist’s rough estimate.

根据《经济学人》的粗略估计，全球支付给股东的股息总额预计将从2019年的2.2万亿美元降至今年的1.4万亿美元。

The cuts could go deeper.

削减的幅度可能还会更大。

If the crisis worsens (or regulators step in), banks in America, which have suspended buy-backs, may do the same with dividends, which they have kept.

如果危机进一步恶化(或者监管机构介入)，已经暂停回购股票的美国银行可能会对已经保留了的股息采取同样的措施。

Policymakers in Europe, where dividends are higher as a share of profits, are asking all firms to show restraint.

欧洲的政策制定者要求所有的公司要有所克制，那里的股息在利润中所占的比例更高。

Withheld¹³ payouts remain on firms’ balance-sheets, helping¹⁴ to pare down net debt.

企业的资产负债表上仍然保留着扣缴的款项，这有助于减少净债务。

Once pruned¹⁵, dividends take time to grow back—

股息一旦削减，就需要一段时间才能恢复增长——

welcome news for those who think shareholders have been rewarded too richly of late.

对于那些认为股东近来获得的回报过于丰厚的人来说，这是个好消息。

In America companies now return more money to owners than they spend on capital investments, research and development.

在美国，现在公司返还给所有者的钱比他们用于资本投资、研究和开发的钱还要多。

1 dividends   

红利( dividend的名词复数 )； 股息； 被除数； （足球彩票的）彩金

参考例句：

• Nothing pays richer dividends than magnanimity. 没有什么比宽宏大量更能得到厚报。
• Their decision five years ago to computerise the company is now paying dividends. 五年前他们作出的使公司电脑化的决定现在正产生出效益。

2 slashing   

adj.尖锐的；苛刻的；鲜明的；乱砍的v.挥砍( slash的现在分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• Slashing is the first process in which liquid treatment is involved. 浆纱是液处理的第一过程。 来自辞典例句
• He stopped slashing his horse. 他住了手，不去鞭打他的马了。 来自辞典例句

3 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

4 holders   

支持物( holder的名词复数 )； 持有者； （支票等）持有人； 支托（或握持）…之物

参考例句：

• Slaves were mercilessly ground down by slave holders. 奴隶受奴隶主的残酷压迫。
• It is recognition of compassion's part that leads the up-holders of capital punishment to accuse the abolitionists of sentimentality in being more sorry for the murderer than for his victim. 正是对怜悯的作用有了认识，才使得死刑的提倡者指控主张废除死刑的人感情用事，同情谋杀犯胜过同情受害者。

5 collapsing   

压扁[平]，毁坏，断裂

参考例句：

• Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
• The rocks were folded by collapsing into the center of the trough. 岩石由于坍陷进入凹槽的中心而发生褶皱。

6 portfolios   

n.投资组合( portfolio的名词复数 )；（保险）业务量；（公司或机构提供的）系列产品；纸夹

参考例句：

• Price risk arises in non-trading portfolios, as well as in trading portfolios. 价格风险中出现的非贸易投资，以及在贸易投资组合。 来自互联网
• How do we fatten our portfolios and stay financially healthy? 我们怎样育肥我们的投资结构和维持财政健康呢？ 来自互联网

7 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

8 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

9 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

10 derivatives   

n.衍生性金融商品；派生物，引出物( derivative的名词复数 )；导数

参考例句：

• Many English words are derivatives of Latin words. 许多英语词来自拉丁语。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These compounds are nitrosohydroxylamine derivatives. 这类合成物是亚硝基羟胺衍生物。 来自辞典例句

11 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

12 halved   

v.把…分成两半( halve的过去式和过去分词 )；把…减半；对分；平摊

参考例句：

• The shares have halved in value . 股价已经跌了一半。
• Overall operating profits halved to $24 million. 总的营业利润减少了一半，降至2，400 万元。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 withheld   

withhold过去式及过去分词

参考例句：

• I withheld payment until they had fulfilled the contract. 他们履行合同后，我才付款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There was no school play because the principal withheld his consent. 由于校长没同意，学校里没有举行比赛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

15 pruned   

v.修剪（树木等）( prune的过去式和过去分词 )；精简某事物，除去某事物多余的部分

参考例句：

• Next year's budget will have to be drastically pruned. 下一年度的预算将大幅度削减。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The roses had been pruned back savagely. 玫瑰被狠狠地修剪了一番。 来自《简明英汉词典》