If the company has to spend a whole bunch of money on something, that is going to impact the profitability of the company for that reporting period. Given that dividends are a percentage of profit, that will have a short term impact on the amount of dividends paid out.
It sounds like you're trying to say that because the company has cash on hand, it won't affect the profitability of the company because the expenditure isn't an operating cost. But if a company has less cash available this year than it did last year, because it spent money on a whole bunch of stuff (in this case, shares at market), then it lost money. Or, if it has less cash available this year than it would have if it hadn't bought that stuff, then it is less profitable for that reporting period.
MFG Price at posting:
$15.78 Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held
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