dividends

UK income investors could be in for a dividend windfall as sterling continues to slide against the dollar, analysts have suggested.

The yield of the FTSE 100 will rise from 3.07% to 3.37% this year as FTSE 100 companies increase their dividends by an average of 11%, Banc De Binary has claimed.

UK equity income funds are poised to benefit from a decline in sterling as their portfolios reap the rewards of positions in dollar-denominated dividend payers and overseas earners.

Schroders' head of US fixed income Wesley Sparks has argued investors should brace for a high yield correction in the first quarter of next year, as yields could rise by as much as 100 basis points.

Credit Suisse has named 20 of the best stocks with the ability to return capital to shareholders through special dividends and buybacks, with UK names such as clothing retailer Next and Paddy Power included on the list.

Hopes that Aberdeen Asset Management could announce a "significant" dividend hike in its forthcoming annual results have sent the group to the top of the FTSE 100 leaderboard.

BP's shareholders have called for a cash payout to be made if the sale of its 50% stake in TNK-BP goes through, as talk it is poised to offload its holding imminently picks up.

UK dividend payments hit another record high in Q3 2012, the latest figures from Capita have revealed, although the mood was soured somewhat as it warned it will be "much harder" to make progress in 2013.

MAM Funds' Gervais Williams has revealed the key stocks driving performance on his Acuim UK Multi Cap Income fund, which reached its one-year anniversary this month.

The chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland has suggested the business will restart dividend payments to shareholders after 2013, by which time its restructuring phase should be complete.