Q2 headline fall in UK dividends concealed underlying resilience

  • Q2 headline dividends fell 9.0% year-on-year to £32.8bn thanks to lower one-off special payments
  • Regular payouts rose to £32.2bn, up 3.5% on an underlying basis
  • Banking dividends jumped by three fifths to £7.8bn
  • Mining dividends fell by a third, in line with forecast – and there were pockets of weakness among retailers
  • Top 100 dividends outpaced mid-caps for the first time since Q2 2021
  • Yields on other asset classes now surpass equities for the first time since the Global Financial Crisis
  • Headline dividends upgraded to £92.3bn for 2023, a fall of 1.7% year-on-year owing to lower special dividends
  • Regular payouts upgraded by £2.7bn to £88.9bn, up 6.1% on an underlying basis – banks are the main driver of the upgrade

“For the first time since before the Global Financial Crisis, the MPC’s 0.5% percentage point hike in Bank Rate has pushed yields on UK government bonds and even interest on cash savings accounts above equity yields.”

Mark Cleland

Mark Cleland
CEO Issuer Services, UCIA

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