Strategies of Dividend policy of the companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange

Research into the determinants of companies’ decisions about paying out dividends, which has been described in the Polish specialist literature, concentrates mainly on the dividends actually paid out. The research presented in the article refers to declarations of the companies included in their dividend policies. The aim of the article is to present an attitude to dividend policy exhibited by the companies listed on the Warsaw stock exchange. A particular attempt was made at identifying various formulas of constructing dividend policies by the companies and the declared conditions for dividend payments and their amounts. 118 dividend companies took part in the research and they were selected from among the companies listed on the Warsaw stock exchange in the years 2006-2012. The authors have analysed the dividend policy of the companies in terms of its components and the way it was formulated, as well as the determinants of decisions about dividend payments declared by the companies. The results of the analysis were referred to the types of strategies of the dividend policy presented in the specialist literature. The research results indicate that the boards of many companies do not consider formulating and publicising the principles of making dividend payments to be a relevant area of investor relations. The dividend policy of the companies is usually formulated too generally, with the use of general statements. Satisfying capital needs for the planned development processes appears to be a basic determinant of the distribution of profit, which is why residual dividend policy is prevalent in the analysed companies.