Continental's Split Shows How Germany's Business Model Is Shifting

Continental AG intends to become the latest German manufacturing stalwart to dismantle itself, highlighting the pressure to become more agile to weather structural issues at home and respond to mounting competition abroad.
Tracing its roots to producing rubber hoof buffers for horses in the late 19th century, the Hanover-based company plans to split into three: the core tire business, rubber components and auto parts. The moves, which Continental will pitch to investors on Tuesday, would unwind decades of diversification and reflect Germany's shifting business model.

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Why It Might Not Make Sense To Buy Cancom SE (ETR:COK) For Its Upcoming Dividend

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That's why it's not ideal to see Cancom's earnings per share have been shrinking at 3.2% a year over the previous five years. Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. Cancom has delivered 15% dividend growth per year on average over the past 10 years. That's intriguing, but the combination of growing dividends despite declining earnings can typically only be achieved by paying out a larger percentage of profits. Cancom is already paying out 124% of its profits, and with shrinking earnings we think it's unlikely that this dividend will grow quickly in the future. From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid Cancom? It's not a great combination to see a company with earnings in decline and paying out 124% of its profits, which could imply the dividend may be at risk of being cut in the future. 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If you're in the market for strong dividend payers, we recommend checking our selection of top dividend stocks. — Investing narratives with Fair Values Vita Life Sciences Set for a 12.72% Revenue Growth While Tackling Operational Challenges By Robbo – Community Contributor Fair Value Estimated: A$2.42 · 0.1% Overvalued Vossloh rides a €500 billion wave to boost growth and earnings in the next decade By Chris1 – Community Contributor Fair Value Estimated: €78.41 · 0.1% Overvalued Intuitive Surgical Will Transform Healthcare with 12% Revenue Growth By Unike – Community Contributor Fair Value Estimated: $325.55 · 0.6% Undervalued View more featured narratives — Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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This dividend stock's yielding 5.5% but its directors have sold nearly 15m shares this month!

Brickability Group's (LSE:BRCK) a distributor of construction materials (not just bricks) and has built (excuse the pun) a reputation as a dividend stock. And with earnings growing strongly I'm sure shareholders will be hopeful that its payout will continue to rise. On 24 April, the group released a pre-close trading update stating that revenue for the year ended 31 March (FY25) is expected to be 7% higher than in FY24. Also, adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) is forecast to be 11% better. Some of the improvement is due to its specialist cladding and fire remediation division delivering projects ahead of schedule. This is a shift of turnover between accounting periods rather than new business. But the group said there was 'good momentum in trading' more generally. Within a week of this announcement, the group's share price had risen 15.5%. But its shares are now changing hands for only fractionally more than before the news was released. It means nearly all of the benefit to shareholders from its FY25 results being ahead of expectations has been lost. So what's going on? A quick look at the company's other stock exchange announcements is revealing. On 13 June, Alan Simpson, a non-executive director (NED), and Sarah Simpson, a close associate, reduced their combined stake from 11% to 7.23%. The shares fell nearly 6% when this news was announced. The amount received hasn't yet been disclosed but it's likely to be around the £7m mark. And two days earlier, the managing director of Brickability's Distribution division sold 3m shares and another NED offloaded 1m. These sales realised proceeds of £2.07m and £690,000 respectively. Of course, I've no idea why these individuals have decided to reduce their stakes in the company. Everyone has different financial circumstances and I don't think it's unreasonable to 'cash out' at some stage. After all, you can't spend shares. But whatever the reasons, these sales aren't a good look. These senior managers are going to miss out on generous levels of passive income. Based on amounts paid over the past 12 months, the stock's currently (20 June) yielding 5.5%. The FTSE AIM All-Share index is offering 2.27%. We don't yet know what the final dividend for FY25 will be but it looks as though it's likely to be higher than it was in FY24. If so, it means the group will have increased its annual payout for four consecutive years. But the group's relatively small. As its listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) with a market-cap of just under £200m, it doesn't have the financial firepower to cope with a sustained downturn in the UK construction industry. And even though I'm sure there are perfectly valid reasons for the directors' share sales, they're likely to dent investor confidence. But the group has lots going for it. Revenue and earnings are heading in the right direction and the green shoots of a recovery are starting to show in the housebuilding sector. Also, the UK cladding 'scandal' is providing plenty of opportunities for further work. For these reasons, when combined with a healthy 5%+ yield, investors could consider adding the stock to their portfolios. The post This dividend stock's yielding 5.5% but its directors have sold nearly 15m shares this month! appeared first on The Motley Fool UK. More reading 5 Stocks For Trying To Build Wealth After 50 One Top Growth Stock from the Motley Fool James Beard has no position in any of the shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. Motley Fool UK 2025