Dividend spree on AIM market

LONDON’s junior stock market AIM is set to return more than £1bn to investors in annual dividends for the first time ever.

Companies on AIM will ramp up dividend payouts by 19.6pc to a total of £1.2bn this year, according to research by Link Asset services.

Over the past six years, AIM dividends have grown almost four times faster per year than those delivered by the main market of the London stock Exchange.

Link chief executive Justin Cooper said: ‘The speed at which dividends are growing shows that more and more companies are coming of age.’