UK dividends hit Q1 record at almost £20bn

Underlying growth forecast at £99.7bn for 2019

Large one-off payouts helped push UK dividends to a first quarter record of £19.7bn, with UK dividends averaging a near-historic high, rising 15.7% to a yield of 4.6%, according to the latest quarterly dividend monitor from Link Asset Services.

The growth was primarily the result of very large one-off special dividends, such as mining firm BHP's £1.7bn payout, making up for slower-than-expected growth in underlying dividends, which rose by just 5.5% to £17.6bn. UK Dividend Monitor: Financials help headline dividends approach £100bn in 2018 Underlying growth, two-thirds of which was contributed by exchange-rate effects, is now forecast at £99.7bn for 2019, up 3.9% year-on-year but down from the 5.3% forecast in January. However, the boost offered by specials takes forecast headline dividends to a record £106.1bn, breaking ...