What is the outlook for UK dividends over the next 12 months?

Phil Doel Fund manager, F&C UK Equity Income fund   UK corporates are generally in good shape; balance sheets are relatively healthy, profit margins high and they are generating strong cashflows. This gives companies some optionality in how they spend their cash and many have indicated that increasing payouts to shareholders is a high priority. This is reflected in last quarter's dividend payouts and we anticipate this will continue. The consensus market forecast is double digit dividend growth in the next 12 months, and these are covered more than 2.5x covered by company earnin...