First quarter dividends raised, restarted or held at half of UK firms, says Link Group
Half of UK companies increased, restarted or held their shareholder payouts steady between January and March, compared with just a third in the final three months of 2020, signalling the beginnings of corporate recovery from the shock caused by Covid-19.
Dividends paid to investors fell by almost 27% to £12.7bn, excluding one-off specials, in the first quarter, compared with a year earlier, according to the financial data firm Link Group, marking the slowest rate of decline since the start of the pandemic.
