Towards record dividends for shareholders in 2021

Global dividends are rebounding faster than expected after the epidemic and will hit record highs in 2021, driven by “sky-high” payments made by mining companies in the third quarter, a study released on Monday said.

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US asset manager Janus Henderson’s quarterly payments to shareholders jumped 19.5% from 2020 to $ 403.5 billion, a third-quarter record.

These figures are pushing the company to raise its outlook for 2021: Janus Henderson now expects payroll growth of 15.6%, which is projected to reach $ 1,460 billion, an all-time high.

“Dividends are rebounding faster than expected, reflecting better corporate balance sheets and reflecting increased optimism for the future,” said Ben Lofthouse, head of equity management at Janus Henderson.

Thus in the third quarter, “Janus Henderson’s dividend index is now just 2% lower than the pre-epidemic high in the first quarter of 2020”, before an unprecedented decline in shareholder compensation, the study said.

This is a “staggering amount” for study authors who stressed that mining companies raised dividends by a total of $ 54.1 billion in the third quarter, which is higher than the previous record set in 2019 as a whole. .

“Rising commodity prices have provided record profits for many mining companies,” the study explains.

However, with regard to the 2022 Outlook, Jane Schumacher, portfolio manager at Janus Henderson, warns that “mining companies that rely on volatile commodity prices will be able to maintain this level of payment.”