Income seekers continue to receive bumper payouts from UK companies with the total handed out rising by 39% to £37bn in the quarter to June.
Excluding special payouts, the underlying total rose by 27% to £32bn, according to the Link Group, with the weak pound providing a tailwind.
It was the second-largest quarterly total on record, said Link, both for the headline and underlying figures and just shy of the all-time record reached in the second quarter of 2019.
Mining dividends contributed almost a quarter of the headline total, rising 37% year-on-year on a headline basis, though given Rio Tinto slashed its payout just today it remains to be seen if this is a highwater mark for the miners.
Rio Tinto slashes interim dividend as EBITDA slumps on lower iron ore prices
Banking dividends also rose by two-thirds as Covid restraints were eased by the Bank of England while oil companies are growing their payouts but are still at half the level of their second quarter 2019 peak.
Housebuilders, industrial goods, media, travel, and general financials all had a very good second quarter, said Link, thanks to good profit growth.
For 2022 overall, Link expects a 2.4% rise to £96.3bn, while underlying payouts will jump 12.5% to £86.8bn.
Ian Stokes, Managing Director, Corporate Markets UK and Europe at Link said: “Mining payouts are closely linked to the cyclical fluctuations in mining profits and tend to rise and fall much more over that cycle than dividends from other industries.
“Concerns over global growth have pushed commodity prices sharply lower in recent weeks, though they remain high in historic terms. The sector has confounded expectations more than once before, bending their stated dividend policies at important moments.
“But if mining dividends have indeed now peaked, they will act as a brake on UK dividend growth in the next twelve months having provided the main engine over the last 24.
“The weakness of the pound is also proving a key swing factor this year. If it maintains its current level for the rest of the year, sterling is set to have its worst ever year against the dollar. The translated value of dollar dividends is therefore getting a very big boost.
“As we move into 2023, headwinds will strengthen. The easy post-pandemic catch-up effects are soon to wash entirely out of the figures, and an economic recession will crimp the ability and willingness of many companies to grow dividends.”