ArcelorMittal SA Declares A Whopping Dividend

ArcelorMittal (MT) has declared dividends for the rest of 2008. In an offhanded press release they announced the dividend program could be accessed on their own investor relations web site. The press release failed to announce what the dividend is. You need to go hunt around for it. Hmm

Other media outlets are reporting that the Mittals stand to make approximately $934 million which explains why Forbes Magazine thinks Mittal is the fifth richest person on the planet (currently about $34 Billion in net worth) Hmm

Usually dividends are declared by Boards of Directors. There does not seem to be a confirmation that this was approved by the board. The program will be submitted to the shareholders for approval at their next annual general meeting on May 13, 2008. but by then the first quarterly payment will have been made and the second payment will be just weeks away. Curious way for a company to run its affairs.

Most companies establish a dividend pay out policy but declare dividends quarterly if conditions warrant. We all know the Mittals are rich but do they need to prove that the stock will pay a dividend for some other financial engineering reason. Otherwise why bother with this structure?