Evidence on the Irish stock market's reaction to dividend announcements

This study investigates the manner in which the Irish stock market responds to company announcements about dividend payments. In particular, the paper examines whether the predictions of the 'signalling' hypothesis hold or if more recent findings (which suggest that there is little value-relevant information contained in dividend changes) better characterize the Irish market. Data were obtained for a sample of 50 companies whose shares were traded on the Dublin Stock Exchange from 1987 to 2001. Abnormal returns were then calculated for the whole sample and for various dividend-earnings change combinations. The results suggest that dividend announcements are important for Irish investors, but earnings signals appear to have a stronger impact on equity values.