Cibus Nordic Real Estate from Europe pays monthly dividends

Cibus Nordic Real Estate owns grocery properties in Scaninavia (image source: Cibus 2021 annual report)

Swedish real estate company Cibus is the only listed stock in Europe that pays a monthly dividend to shareholders. The owner of real estate leased to grocery and discount store chains in Sweden, Finland and Denmark started paying a monthly dividend in 2020.

The Swedish real estate company Cibus Nordic Real Estate owns buildings that are rented out to supermarkets in Scandinavia. It owns a portfolio consisting of more than 100 properties, concentrated primarily in Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway. The company's main focus lies on the Helsinki region and the southern part of Finland with tenants mainly being Kesko, Tokmanni and S-Group.

Cibus owns real estate in Norway, Sweden and Finland (source: 2021 annual report)

The Cibus real estate portfolio provides exposure to leading food retailers in the Nordics. The grocery and daily-goods industry have experienced stable, non-cyclical growth over long time, even in times of financial crisis. The portfolio is well diversified, and no property stands for more than 2.5% of the group's net operating income.

CIBUS IS ONLY EUROPEAN STOCK WITH MONTHLY DIVIDEND

Cibus is a unique share in Europe, where there are no listed companies that pay a dividend 12 times a year. Most European stocks pay dividends once or at most twice a year. A quarterly dividend is becoming more and more common, especially in countries such as Sweden. It is no coincidence that Sweden is also the first European listed company to pay a monthly dividend through Cibus Real Estate. Cibus started with the monthly dividend in 2020 and always pays the dividend in euro's (EUR) instead of Swedish kroner (SEK).

On the Cibus website you can check when the next dividend will be paid to shareholders. Cibus always indicates the ex-dividend dates for the next three months, so in this case we already know until March 2023 exactly when and how much will be paid out. In concrete terms, Cibus will again go ex-dividend on 21 December 2022 at €0.09 per share. Dividends of €0.08 (twice) and €0.09 per Cibus share will follow in January, February and March 2023.

The business concept of Cibus Nordic Real Estate AB (publ), “Cibus”, is to acquire, refine and develop high-quality properties in the Nordic region, with reputable grocery and supermarket chains as anchor tenants, to provide stable, cyclically resilient and increasing dividends for our shareholders. (source: Cibus annual report)

Just like most other European real estate stocks, and especially Swedish real estate, Cibus also is under pressure in 2022 because of the rising interest rates in Sweden and elswhere in Europe. This will result in a 53% drop in the price of the Cibus Nordic Real Estate share in 2022. The consequence of the halved share price is that the dividend yield has risen enormously and is currently 7.5% gross for the Cibus share at a share price of SEK 137.60.

CIBUS NORIDC REAL ESTATE DIVIDEND POLICY

In the 2021 annual report, we read more about the dividend policy pursued by Cibus. The company pays out monthly dividends, that are to increase by 5% annually for each Class A share. Should another share class (D) be established, it is proposed that this should provide a stable monthly return. The dividend targets have been set to reflect the company’s strong cash flow and to provide its shareholders with a high and predictable return. Cibus currently pays a high monthly dividend, which, as mentioned, gives a dividend yield of almost 7.5%.

Cibus' stock price is down more than 50% in 2022.

Unlike Swedish real estate peer Castellum, formerly a Dividend Aristocrat, Cibus has not yet reduced its dividend. Castellum recently announced that it would temporarily suspend the dividend due to the great uncertainties and to safeguard its financial position and credit rating.

In Europe, according to our information, Cibus is currently still the only real stock that pays a monthly dividend. There are many more monthly dividend payers in the United States, with Realty Income being the most well-known example. Recently, dividendtrackrecords.com wrote an article about five US real estate stocks (REITs) that pay dividends 12 times a year.