UK dividends rose 11.2% on a headline basis in Q2 to a record £36.7bn

  • UK dividends rose 11.2% on a headline basis in Q2 to a record £36.7bn – ahead of forecast owing to larger one-off payments
  • Underlying growth was just 1.0% thanks to a big cut in mining payouts
  • Excluding the weak mining sector, underlying growth was a brisk 8.6%
  • Growth was broad based – 16 out of 21 sectors saw higher payouts and the median dividend increase at company level was 5.4% year-on-year
  • Banks made the strongest contribution to growth and are on track for record payouts in 2024
  • Healthcare payouts jumped 25%, boosted by Haleon
  • Housebuilders were a notable weak point – dividends fell 37%
  • Large special dividends meant the top 100 and the mid 250 saw strong headline growth of 10.2% and 12.3% respectively in the second quarter
  • Headline 2024 forecast cut to £93.9bn (from £94.5bn), up 3.8% (from 4.5%)

“Higher profits mean most sectors are paying more in dividends and spending a lot of cash on share buybacks, but fortunes diverge widely between companies and sectors, and international factors are at play and all this impacts the dividend picture too.”

Mark Cleland

Mark Cleland
CEO of Governance Services & CEO of Issuer Services UCIA

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