Investors strike gold as record £94bn forecast for dividend payments
Shareholders are on track to receive a record £94bn in dividend payouts from UK listed companies this year.
It comes after payouts leapt to £28.5bn in the three months to the end of September, a record for a third-quarter, BBC News reported.
The increase, which includes a rise in special dividends, was driven by bigger payouts from mining companies.
The previous annual record, according to the report from Capita Asset Services, was £88.1bn, paid in 2014.
Capita’s Dividend Monitor assessed data from firms listed on the London stock exchange’s main market, which has more than 1,500 companies, of which the biggest are on the FTSE 100.
The third-quarter payout was 14% up on the period last year, with two-thirds of the jump due to bigger dividends from London-listed mining companies.
Justin Cooper, chief executive of Shareholder Solutions, part of Capita Asset Services, said: “We had high hopes for 2017, but the dividend seam is proving even richer than we expected, as the mining sector finds its footing again.
“Investors have struck gold as this year’s haul easily smashes the previous record set in 2014. Generous payouts have been topped up by big exchange rate gains between January and June and very large special dividends, setting 2017 up to be a sparkling year.”
