Dividends from the world’s largest companies reached a record in the first quarter of this year, as banks and oil companies led the way in rewarding shareholders.
Some US$326.7bn was paid out by 1,200 companies in the first three months of the year, according to asset manager Janus Henderson, a rise of 12% year on year.
Volkswagen Group, Microsoft Corporation, ExxonMobil Corporation and Apple Inc all featured among the ten highest dividend payers, while Chevron Corporation, Ford Motor Company and JPMorgan Chase & Co sat in the top twenty.
“Banks made the largest contribution to growth in the first quarter thanks to their large weighting in the index and healthy results on the back of widening interest margins,” the report said. “Oil producers came a close second.”
Volkswagen’s special US$6.3bn dividend, issued in the wake of Porsche AG’s IPO last year was also key in bumping the figure up, alongside Ford’s one-off US$0.65 per share reward.
Shell PLC and BP PLC were among oil firms to lift dividends, implementing hikes from US$0.25 to US$0.2875 and US$0.0546 to US$0.0661 respectively.
Janus Henderson lifted full-year forecasts for the top companies' dividends to US$1.64trn, which would sit 5% higher on an underlying basis than 2022’s payments.
Though the report largely attributed special one-off payments for the rising figure, the firm’s global equity head, Ben Lofthouse, said the figure was “impressive, considering the challenges the global economy faced in 2022”.