Surge in oil company dividends

COMPANIES around the world paid out a record $415.9bn (£349bn) in dividends between July and September amid surging profits from oil producers benefiting from the energy crisis.

Payments from oil companies rose by 75pc from a year earlier to $46.4bn, following a jump in the cost of fossil fuels driven by the war in Ukraine.

It comes amid growing scrutiny of oil and gas producers’ profits as high energy prices drive a cost of living crisis, with windfall taxes imposed around Europe and in Britain. Producers have been urged to reinvest their profits in boosting energy supplies, as well as handing cash back to shareholders.

Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor, is expected to extend a UK tax raid tomorrow, boosting state coffers to help households with their energy bills.

Janus Henderson, which compiled the data, said oil companies all over the world hiked their payouts, largely via special dividends, with the biggest rise coming from Brazil’s Petrobras. It said: “Without the positive impact from this sector, the global total would have barely risen in the third quarter.”

The surge in oil dividend offset a fall in dividends from mining companies in response to falling commodities prices.

Shipping, chemicals and semiconductor companies also boosted payouts.

In the UK, dividends rose 2.5pc on an underlying basis, with 84pc of companies either raising dividends or keeping them steady. FTSE 100 oil businesses BP and Shell both kept their dividends flat for the quarter, at 6.006 cents per share and 25 cents per share respectively, having increased payouts in the second and first quarter respectively.

Shell plans to increase its dividend by 15pc in the fourth quarter.