Things are looking up for income investors as dividend payouts start to rise

UK dividend payouts are ready to grow again, but this crisis has shown why income investors must diversify overseas.

UK dividend payouts
(Image credit: UK dividend payouts)

Things are finally looking up slightly for investors who rely on stocks for income. In the first three months of this year, UK dividends fell at their slowest annual rate since the pandemic began, down 26.7% excluding special dividends according to the latest quarterly figures from shareholder registrar Link. That still sounds painful, but the year-on-year figure disguises an encouraging trend: half of all listed companies resumed, maintained or increased their dividends between January and March, compared with just one third between October and December.

The bad news is that dividends fell an unprecedented 43.1% – including both regular and special dividends – in 2020. Even though payouts are recovering and we can expect a decent level of special dividends this year, Link projects that total UK dividends will rise between 11% and 17% in 2021. That will leave them between 33% and 37% below pre-pandemic levels and unlikely to regain previous highs until around 2025.

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Cris Sholto Heaton

Cris Sholto Heaton is an investment analyst and writer who has been contributing to MoneyWeek since 2006 and was managing editor of the magazine between 2016 and 2018. He is especially interested in international investing, believing many investors still focus too much on their home markets and that it pays to take advantage of all the opportunities the world offers. He often writes about Asian equities, international income and global asset allocation.

Cris began his career in financial services consultancy at PwC and Lane Clark & Peacock, before an abrupt change of direction into oil, gas and energy at Petroleum Economist and Platts and subsequently into investment research and writing. In addition to his articles for MoneyWeek, he also works with a number of asset managers, consultancies and financial information providers.

He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and the Investment Management Certificate, as well as degrees in finance and mathematics. He has also studied acting, film-making and photography, and strongly suspects that an awareness of what makes a compelling story is just as important for understanding markets as any amount of qualifications.