According to a recent report published by Capita, dividend pay-outs from companies listed in the UK grew at the beginning of 2015, up in the first quarter of the year when compared to results from 12 months ago.
In its publication, Capita said: “We upgrade our forecast for 2015 thanks to faster than expected growth, and a return to dividends from Lloyds Bank, for the first time since 2008.”
Experts are stating that the other reasons behind these dividend rises include the UK’s recovering economy, which is growing at a pace faster than 2006, as well as the strength of the US dollar.
53 firms in the FTSE 350 pay dividends in US dollars, a currency that has risen against the pound by 12 per cent in the first quarter, accounting for £33.8 billion last year.
First-quarter dividends hit £14.75 billion, which is 52 per cent lower than the amount recorded for the same months the year before; however, that figure has been affected by Vodafone paying its world record £15.9 billion special dividend from the sale of its Verizon stake.
Taking this key factor into account, the first quarter of this year was much better than anticipated and enjoyed the fastest growth for almost three years.
Numerous sectors performed well in the first quarter of the year, with construction, mining, chemicals, property and retail among the other industries that all posted double digit pay-outs.
During the same period, BP and oil companies such as Royal Dutch Shell displayed a pay-out boost of 16 per cent, mainly thanks to currency markets.
