Worldwide, companies distributed 302.5 billion dollars (282.442 million euros) in dividends, 11% more

MADRID, 24 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –

Spanish companies distributed 2,900 million dollars (2,700 million euros) in dividends in the first three months of the year, which represents a decrease of 17% compared to the 3,500 million dollars (3,268 million euros) that they distributed in the same period of the previous year.

This is revealed by the new edition of the global dividend report carried out by the investment firm Janus Henderson, which shows a progressive decrease in the dividends distributed in Spain since 2018, the year in which 5,000 million dollars (4,670 million euros) were distributed. .

“We must remember that dividends are clearly seasonal. Proof of this is Spain, where large companies such as Endesa and Naturgy made cuts, while Iberdrola only made a small symbolic increase”, explained the director for Spain and Portugal at Janus Henderson, Rafael Bonmati.

Faced with this fall at the national level, the money distributed by the companies to their shareholders worldwide increased in the first quarter by 11%, standing at 302,500 million dollars (282,442 million euros). The report emphasizes that this is a record for this period, which is usually “seasonally quieter”.

The most significant increases compared to the first quarter of the previous year are those of China, South Africa and Russia, where they increased by 575%, 248% and 168%, respectively. However, it should be noted that despite the large percentage increase, dividends in China were only 300 million dollars (280 million euros).

The biggest increase in dividends came from Danish shipping group Moller-Maersk, which has benefited from the disruption of global supply chains. This single distribution is responsible for Denmark’s record quarterly share.

By sectors, oil and mining were the ones that grew the most in the first quarter and BHP is on track to be the largest dividend payer in the world in 2022 for the second consecutive year, the report highlights. In the last five years, the five most important sectors in the world in terms of dividend distribution have been banking, oil, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications and insurance.

The firm explains that part of this strength responds to “the ongoing normalization of distributions after the disruption caused by the pandemic”: in the first quarter of 2021 there were significant dividend cuts, so it is based on a relatively low comparison .

The growth also reflects the marked economic rebound after the Covid-19 crisis that took place in much of the world in 2021 and early 2022, the report underlines. In this way, worldwide, 81% of the companies that paid dividends in the first quarter increased them compared to the previous year and 13% maintained them.

Despite the uncertainty in the markets, Janus Henderson has not modified its forecasts for the remaining quarters of the year, although the figures for this period have slightly increased the forecast for the year as a whole to 1.54 billion dollars (1.44 billion euros), which represents an increase of 4.6%.

“Global dividends got off to a good start in 2022, helped by particular strength in the oil and mining sectors. However, as we expected, the growth in distributions was fairly broad based across sectors and geographies,” Outstanding Client Portfolio Manager of the Equity Income Team, Jane Shoemake.