美国企业现金储备总额创新高

The swelling cash reserves of Apple and a handful of other technology companies have raised the overall liquidity of corporate America to record levels, new data revealed yesterday.昨日发布的新数据显示，苹果(Apple)和其他一些科技公司的现金储备不断增加，使美国企业的整体流动性达到创纪录水平。

About $6 out of every $10 added to the corporate sector’s cash mountain during the past three years has come from tech companies, Moody’s Investor Service, the US rating agency, said. The overall pile reached a record $1,450bn at the end of last year, up 10 per cent from the year before.美国评级机构——穆迪投资服务公司(Moody’s Investor Service)表示，在过去3年间，美国企业部门的现金储备每增加10美元，就有大约6美元来自科技企业。去年底美国企业现金储备总额达到了创纪录的1.450万亿美元，同比增长10%。

Apple alone is likely to be sitting on $170bn of cash and liquid investments by the end of this year, lifting its share of the overall reserves from 9.5 per cent at the end of last year to an expected 11 per cent, according to Moody’s.穆迪表示，仅苹果一家公司就可能在今年底坐拥1700亿美元现金和短期投资，这让它在美国企业现金储备总额中的比重从去年底的9.5%，升至预计的11%。

A growing number of tech companies have responded to swelling financial reserves by starting or increasing dividend payments, although not fast enough to stem the increase in cash holdings or head off unhappy investors.为了应对现金储备日益增加的问题，越来越多的科技公司开始或加大派息，尽管速度还不足以阻止现金储备增长或者让投资者感到满意。

Apple, which announced its first dividend a year ago this week, is expected to boost its dividend in the coming weeks in response to growing pressure from Wall Street and a call from dissident shareholder Greenlight Capital for it to issue a new class of preferred stock to reward shareholders.苹果在一年前的这一周首次宣布派息。由于华尔街日益加大压力以及维权股东绿光资本(Greenlight Capital)呼吁发行一类新的优先股以回馈股东，预计该公司将在今后几周宣布增加派息。

Dell’s cash has also drawn the attention of activists, with Carl Icahn joining a campaign for the company to abandon its proposed buyout and use its cash instead to pay a large dividend and support larger borrowings.戴尔(Dell)的现金也吸引了维权投资者的注意，卡尔•伊卡恩(Carl Icahn)和其他人一起，要求该公司放弃拟议私有化计划，转而拿出现金派发大笔股息，并支持更大的债务。

The heightened activism is one of the few areas of concern for bond market investors, said Richard Lane, a Moody’s analyst, as it could leave groups with weaker balance sheets.穆迪分析师理查德•莱恩(Richard Lane)表示，维权活动增加是债券市场投资者的几个担忧之一，因为这可能削弱企业的资产负债表。

The figures from Moody’s are based on gross cash and liquid investments held by companies and do not reflect the increasing debt levels that have left corporate America with rising financial leverage. However, the agency said many companies had taken advantage of low bond yields to extend the maturity of borrowings, and that liquid resources have grown to outweigh all debt repayments due in the next five years.穆迪的数据建立在公司持有的现金总额和流动性投资基础之上，没有反映日益增加的债务水平——后者让美国企业的财务杠杆上升。然而，穆迪表示，许多企业充分利用偏低的债券收益率延长债券到期日，而流动性资源超过了未来5年的偿债支出总额。

Tax avoidance arrangements that have enabled rich tech companies to channel revenues through low-tax countries have contributed to the growing cash hoard. Profits earned overseas on which little or no tax has been paid face a levy of up to 35 per cent when returned to the US, encouraging companies to leave them offshore. As a result, cash held overseas rose by 20 per cent last year to hit $840bn, according to Moody’s. US tech leaders such as John Chambers, chief executive of Cisco Systems, have argued for a tax holiday to bring cash back to the US, although most tax experts say this is unlikely as the fiscal situation has declined.盈利的科技公司往往通过低税率国家来转移收入，这种避税安排也导致了现金储备不断增加。美国企业在海外实现的利润如果未曾缴税或基本未曾缴税，汇回美国就会面临至多35%的税率，这鼓励了企业将这些利润留在海外。穆迪的数据显示，美国企业的海外现金去年增长20%，至8400亿美元。思科(Cisco Systems)首席执行官约翰•钱伯斯(John Chambers)等美国科技行业头面人物呼吁出台对汇回国内的海外现金暂时减免税的政策，尽管大部分税收专家表示，由于财政状况不佳，美国政府不太可能出台这种政策。