Released: July 06, 2008

Dividends start to crumble

Source: Tomoeh Murakami Tse and Nancy Trejos, Washington Post (Free Registration)

The credit crisis and economic slowdown have become so grave that many companies are chopping dividend payments to their shareholders.

Financial institutions, reeling from the rise in foreclosures and ensuing credit crunch, are making the most drastic reductions. Citigroup, which has recorded billions of dollars in losses on mortgage securities, earlier this year lopped its dividend by 41 percent. So did Wachovia. National City, a major regional bank, reduced its payout by nearly half, and Washington Mutual slashed its quarterly dividend to a mere penny. 

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