It’s been an exciting earnings season so far for passive income investors, with many dividend-paying S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) shares bolstering their offerings. But not all has been well in dividend land this week.

Three ASX 200 shares have slashed their dividends, one by as much as 50%. Let’s take a look.

3 ASX 200 shares slicing their dividends this week

First out of the gate is ASX 200 iron ore giant Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG). The company reported its first-half earnings on Wednesday.

It posted a 3.6% slump in revenue, falling to US$7.8 billion, and a 4.7% fall in net profit after tax (NPAT), which came in at US$2.4 billion.

The average iron ore price realised by the miner also tumbled last half to US$87 per dry metric tonne. For comparison, that figure was US$96 a tonne in the prior comparable period.

Finally, Fortescue declared a fully franked interim dividend worth 75 Australian cents – a 12.8% year-on-year drop.

Having a better half was Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN). Though, the ASX 200 gold share still slashed its dividend on Thursday.

It declared a 2 cents per share fully franked interim dividend – down from 3 cents per share this time last year. That marks a 50% reduction.

The company instead chose to put much of its extra cash towards growth projects at its Cowal and Red Lake assets.

It posted $101 million of statutory NPAT, an 11% improvement, and $446 million of earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA), a 13% jump.

Finally, South32 Ltd (ASX: S32) also cut its interim dividend to 4.9 US cents, down from 8.7 US cents in financial year 2022 – a 43.7% drop.

The company posted its first-half earnings on Thursday, declaring a 34% drop in profits and a 44% fall in underlying earnings. They came in at US$685 million and US$560 million respectively.

Weighing on its finances were falling commodity prices, inflation, and uncontrollable costs.

The post Passive income watch: 3 ASX 200 shares that slashed their dividends this week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday
• Evolution Mining share price dives after 50% cut to dividend
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Why did the ASX 200 leap higher on rising unemployment data?
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Thursday

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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