PHOTO
Traders work the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) during the opening bell in New York on May 23, 2023. Stock markets slid on May 23 after fresh talks between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarty on raising the US debt ceiling ended without an agreement as a crucial deadline approaches. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP)
Companies worldwide doled out a record $326.7 billion in dividends to shareholders in the first quarter, pushed up by banks, oil giants and automakers, a study showed on Wednesday.
Global dividends surged 12 percent between January and March compared to the same period in 2022, which was already an all-time high, according to the report by asset management firm Janus Henderson.
The first quarter's "strong dividend growth is all the more impressive considering that 2022 was a difficult year for the global economy with high inflation, rising interest rates, conflict and continuing Covid lockdowns," said Ben Lofthouse, head of global equity income at Janus Henderson.
One-off special dividends reached $28.8 billion over the three-month period, the second biggest amount since the first quarter in 2014, the report showed.
US automaker Ford and German rival Volkswagen accounted for almost a third of all special dividends.
"Headline payouts from the vehicles sector were 10 times larger year-on-year as a consequence," the Janus Henderson report said.
Volkswagen used the proceeds from the stock listing of Porsche to pay out a total of $6.3 billion.
Globally, 95 percent of companies increased dividends or held them steady in the first quarter.
Companies are forecast to shell out $1.6 trillion in dividends in 2023 as a whole, according to Janus Henderson.