Global dividends to bounce back

INVESTOR dividends will return to pre-pandemic highs within the next year after payouts jumped by 26pc during the second quarter, according to findings from money manager Janus Henderson.

Companies restarting payouts that they cancelled during the crisis contributed to three quarters of the surge, as firms worldwide handed out $471.7bn (£346bn) between April and June.

This was still 7pc below the same period in 2019 but Janus Henderson said it expects payouts to return to pre-pandemic levels in the next 12 months.

It raised its forecast for total payouts in 2021 to $1.39 trillion from $1.36 trillion.

UK dividends jumped 61pc during the second quarter, while European payouts were up 66pc during the

Continent’s key dividend season.

Jane Shoemake, a fund manager at Janus Henderson, said: “Across the world, the restart of cancelled dividends has driven the recovery so far, but we are also seeing stronger dividend growth than we expected.”

Some of the FTSE’S biggest dividend payers, such as oil giant Shell, boosted their payouts after axing them last year.