24/05/2022
A new record for dividends paid worldwide in the first quarter of 2022
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Global dividends were driven by strong oil and mining in the first quarter. Those in Denmark were much larger than usual, reports asset manager Janus Henderson
The amount of dividends returned to shareholders reached a new global record in the first quarter, according to a study published Tuesday. Payments to investors rose 11 percent to $302.5 billion (€283.20 billion) in the first three months of the year, a record for this "traditionally calmer" period, according to a report by asset manager Janus Henderson.
These figures prompt Janus Henderson to revise its 2022 forecast upwards, to 1540 billion dollars (1441.7 billion euros), "an increase of 4.6%" compared to 2021, which was already a record year.
Dividends had been slowed down in 2020 and in the first quarter of 2021 under the impact of the pandemic.
The report shows that "payments have more than doubled" since 2009, when the study was created, which measures the evolution of dividends paid by the 1200 largest market capitalizations.
Clear increase in dividends in Denmark
Despite a context of inflation and war in Ukraine, 94% of multinationals have increased their dividends or maintained them, details the study. In the United States, this ratio was the highest at 99% compared to 90% a year earlier.
All regions recorded double-digit growth but "notable weakness was seen in parts of Asia, such as Hong Kong, where lockdowns continue to weigh on the economy."
In Europe, Denmark's dividends have been much larger than usual due to the nearly eight-fold increase in the annual dividend of the moller-Maersk maritime group "which benefits from the disruption of global supply chains". Its dividend of $7.2 billion (€6.7 billion) in the first quarter is the largest since 2015 and "will likely be one of the 30 largest paid this year."
To go further: Why Switzerland is a dividend champion
BHP could become the largest dividend payer in 2022
All sectors recorded increases but the oil industries, where dividends rebounded by a third in the first quarter, and mining stand out.
Mining companies, whose payments to shareholders jumped 29.7 percent, "will continue to contribute strongly to growth in 2022, potentially paying out, for the first time, more than $100 billion in dividends," Henderson said.
Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP is "on track to become the world's largest dividend payer in 2022, for the second year in a row," the asset manager added.