Top two lenders may boost payouts of dividends

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd and China Construction Bank Corp, the nation's largest lenders by assets, may pay out more cash to shareholders, according to Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.

Dividend payout ratios at the banks may rebound in the next two to three years after regulators last week set the schedule for introducing tougher capital rules, Hong Kong-based analysts led by Mike Werner wrote in a note on Thursday.

Payouts may increase by 5 percentage points to 40 percent of 2012 earnings, after declining from 50 percent over the past three years, the analysts said.

China Daily-Agencies