Dividends paid out by UK companies fell by 0.4% in 2024 on an underlying basis stripping out special payments as mining companies slashed their payouts, according to a new analysis.
For the whole year, UK companies paid their shareholders £92.1bn in 2024 or 2.3% more on a headline basis than in 2023, indicated the latest Dividend Monitor report from registrar Computershare.
Excluding special dividends, payments totalled £86.5bn down by 0.4% with a 0.5% fall in the final quarter.
Mining companies reduced their 2024 payouts by 40% to £4.5bn but most of the slack was taken up by banks, food retailers and insurers.
Computershare is predicting headline dividends in 2025 will reach £92.7bn at the headline level: up 0.7% year-on-year with a 1% rise to £88 billion excluding special payments.
UK dividends fell 0.4% in 2024 as big cuts in the mining sector masked a better picture elsewhere, said the registrar.
Mark Cleland, CEO UK Issuer Services said: “It is worth highlighting that dividend growth was better outside the highly cyclical mining sector.
“In addition, share buybacks are having an impact, diverting an estimated £42-45bn of cash in 2024 to shareholders that might previously have been paid mostly in dividends.
“Even so, the report’s predicted 4-4.5% typical company dividend growth for 2025 is modest in the context of UK inflation at 2.5% and will be impacted again by some notable cuts in the year ahead.”