I started my professional career as a faculty of Finance. At that time, I studied the case of private banks in India. I saw that in this country, banks are exceptionally good in estimating the future financial scenarios. They used to consider this factor with a lot of importance while declaring the dividends. Apart from the routine determinants, this was a factor that was of prime importance.
Private banks pay dividends to shareholders on the basis of the profits they made and the payout ratio. Other criteria besides profits and payout will be the non-performing loans coverage. Banks have specific and general provisions due to regulations from Central bank to provide for loans that non-performing and the type of loans.
Earnings, Future scope of growth and expansion, Volatility in the market, competitive environment, shareholders expectations, past history of dividend, dividends by the other banks, Govt. norms ,if any, play an important role.