Despite global deceleration in economies, the total value of dividends given to investors the world over reached a new quarterly record in Q2, new analysis has shown.
In its quarterly analysis, Janus Henderson Investors stated that for the second quarter of 2019, $513.8 billion in dividends was provided to company shareholders, despite global trade tensions and weaker economic conditions taking a toll.
The record dividend payout for investors came despite the quarter also being crowned as having the slowest growth in dividend payments for the past two and a half years.
Analysis showed that Australian investor dividends only rose by 5.7 per cent on an underlying basis, continuing a five-year trend of stagnant dividend growth.
Janus Henderson flagged just one company as offering shareholder dividend growth – QBE Insurance.
It’s a notable rebound for the insurer and stands in stark contrast with banking giant Westpac, which will offer a flat dividend for the eighth consecutive quarter.
Looking abroad
The global slowdown meant only Japan, Canada, France and Indonesia set record growth for the second quarter.
Emerging markets saw the fastest growth by sector, with Russia and Colombia being the main contributors, while Japan registered as the best performer among the developed nations.
The rest of Asia Pacific and Europe, excluding the UK, underperformed on the global average, while the US came in a touch weaker than anticipated. Dividends from financial and energy stocks saw the fastest increases, but technology and consumer basics lagged, the analysis also noted.
US dividends have risen at their slowest pace in two years, up 5.3 per cent on an underlying basis to 121.7 billion.
Despite this, more than four-fifths of companies did raise their payouts and managed to keep the US near the top of the international rankings.
The Asia-Pacific region, excluding Japan, lagged slightly behind the rest of the world in the second quarter, with the total of $43.2 billion distributed 2.2 per cent higher on an underlying basis.
In Europe, investors received seven-tenths of their annual dividend income in the second quarter alone; however, the analysis noted Europe as still lagging behind the rest of the world with Q2 payouts falling 5.3 per cent on a year-on-year basis, due to the weaker Euro.
In the UK, underlying growth was 5.3 per cent, similar to the global average, though very large specials boosted the headline total.
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