China Education Group Increases Its Dividend, Rewards Shareholders

China Education Group, or CEG, delivered an in line full-year 2022 result and raised its dividend in a move that should appease shareholders and provide some support to its share price. The proposed dividend brings the full-year cash payout ratio to 44% on an adjusted net income basis and on par with historical years, despite the cancelation of an interim dividend in favor of a stock re-purchase. We think this reflects management’s willingness to reward shareholders. CEG has a good record of dividend distribution with an average payout ratio of 46.8% from 2019 to 2021, which is among the highest of listed China higher education peers.