Haji-Ioannou has been somewhat mollified by the departure of his long-standing foe, chairman Mike Rake, and by the award of two dividends.
This has cost it an estimated 48 billion reais in the past three years alone, according to Credit Suisse, a bank, while the government has lost 15 billion reais in forgone dividends.
But HCA, which has already paid two dividends this year, has proved to be one of the most durable of the mega-buyouts since being acquired by Bain Capital, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Merrill Lynch and its founders, the Frist family, in 2006.
In 2014, the Portuguese government appointed a Commission for Environmental Tax Reform that formulated a carbon-tax proposal designed to achieve three dividends: to help Portugal meet the European Union's target for emissions reductions by 2030, to boost long-term employment and GDP above their pre-carbon-tax levels, and to strengthen public finances by lowering public indebtedness.
MGM Mirage, which has paid only two dividends since 2000, has delivered 121% over the same period.
Food is recession-proof, and the makers of Nescafé and Perrier have missed only two dividends in 135 years.
Two, dividends are seen as commitments that management does not easily violate, and hence are viewed as "binding" on management to perform well.
Last year one could have bought Progress Energy in January and held it until early April, just long enough to grab two dividends, with ex-dividend dates of Jan . 10and Apr.
500 have announced two dividend cuts this year.
