I'm now convinced you ARE short, rato.
At first I thought you were being your usual self, some of your imaginative arguments ended up being the thesis of new hit pieces on seekingalpha, but I just chalked it up to your inquisitive and creative mind.
Now you question, "Why aren't they paying 100% of cash flow as a dividend, rather than the "token" 5% to 10% of cash flow that has been proposed?" "There is just no reason why it shouldn't be paying a 2.00 to 3.00 annual dividend right now."
Ummm, yes, there are a few reasons, not just one reason for that not being a good idea for long term for CCME (or for shareholder value as measured by long term growth and ROI). Firstoff, what company have you EVER heard of in China that gives out 100% in dividends? Not even the state owned oil giants CNOOC or PTR do that. CCME, like all companies, want to preserve capital because it is the lifeblood of both survival (the rainy day chest) and the fuel for growth. Without growth, in 5 years the competition will have grown yet CCME will have stood still. In advertising and especially digital media advertising, you have to be looking for the latest edge on exploiting new markets, new platforms, and innovative ways to more efficiently and more broadly sell advertising. You can't do that with tying up all your profits in dividends. Look at what companies give out the highest dividends -- they are companies who have a foolproof monopoly like phone companies. Even that is becoming a bad example - G-networks are changing so fast that any digital communications firms that don't reinvest their profits into developing and rolling out the latest technology are going to lose customers to their competition.
AI
