Dividends have come roaring back – now is a good time to pile in
London’s banks, miners and oil giants are making 2021 a prosperous year for income-hungry investors
5 August 2021 • 6:00am
Nowhere is the return to normality clearer or more welcome than in the restoration of company dividends. For yield-focused investors the past 18 months have been a testing time, but 2021 looks easier for those who care as much about the income from their investments as how far and fast they will grow. As index-linked final salary pensions become just a fond memory, that will be most of us in due course.
UK dividend decline slows as sectors restart payments
Link Dividend Monitor for Q1
Link Group: The outlook for UK dividends is brightening
UK dividends fell at the slowest rate since the coronavirus pandemic began in the first quarter of 2021, with payouts falling by 26.7% year-on-year on an underlying basis to £12.7bn.
Total cuts reached £5.8bn for the quarter, roughly half of which was attributed to the oil sector, while headline dividends jumped 7.9% owing to the second-highest one-off specials on record at £6.1bn, the latest Link Group Dividend Monitor shows.
Since the 48.2% collapse in UK dividends in the second quarter of 2020, when the pandemic began, each successive quarter has seen a slower decline.
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