Donald Wood on dividend policy
From Federal's CEO Don Wood on Mad Money | August 11, 2020 · · FederalRealtyInvestmentTrust
“First of all in a REIT the dividend is probably more important to investors as a component of their total return than it is to most C‑corp companies ... so there should be at least in my view a real robust attempt to continue to effectively go through with the bargain that those investors paid for when they invested in the company.”
On , Donald Wood, CEO, President & Director at Federal Realty Investment Trust, spoke about dividend policy during Federal's CEO Don Wood on Mad Money | August 11, 2020 on FederalRealtyInvestmentTrust.
About Donald Wood
In an August 2020 appearance on CNBC's *Mad Money*, Federal Realty Investment Trust CEO Don Wood discussed the company's decision to raise its dividend during the COVID-19 pandemic. Wood stated that the dividend is a critical component of total return for REIT investors and that the company had $2 billion in liquidity at the end of June 2020, projecting it would still have $1.4 billion by February 2021. He argued that the ability to pay the dividend was not sufficient reason to do so, and that the decision was based on confidence in the company's future. Wood also addressed the broader retail environment, saying the U.S. entered the pandemic in an "over‑retail" state that would exacerbate oversupply, and that "not everybody can be a winner here." He emphasized the importance of landlords being "liquid" and "visionary" partners for tenants facing uncertainty. Wood described a program for in-store pickup as "the most comprehensive landlord organized program out in the street," adding that it was a permanent change rather than a temporary measure. He expressed confidence that the company would navigate the crisis and focus on long-term outcomes, stating he was "thinking about later in twenty years."