Icahn Enterprises cuts dividend by half in effort to conserve cash

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Carl Icahn’s embattled investment conglomerate has cut its quarterly dividend by half in an attempt to conserve cash after short seller Hindenburg Research criticised its large payouts as unsustainable. 

Icahn Enterprises said on Friday it would cut its quarterly payout from $2 to $1 per share, sending its stock tumbling.

The shares plunged by more than half in early May after Hindenburg published its criticisms of the payouts and the large debts Icahn had taken against his shares in the company. They fell by more than 20 per cent in pre-market trading on Friday to just over $25.

Icahn Enterprises told stockholders its payout amounted to “a 12 per cent annualised yield based on yesterday’s closing price”. 

In second-quarter earnings, Icahn Enterprises lost $269mn.