Income investors have enjoyed a strong quarter with UK companies paying out their all-time highest levels of dividend payments, according to industry research.
The latest Computershare UK Dividend Monitor – a quarterly report produced by the financial administration company, which tracks share registers of limited companies, including how they return money to shareholders – said regular dividends were the driving force behind the regular payments.
In total, companies paid out £35.3 billion in the second quarter of 2026, with £34.8 billion in regular dividends – an increase of 7.4%.
Sign up to Money Morning
Don’t miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don’t miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Banks and mining companies were the strongest sectors. Over the three months from April to June, banking stocks paid a record £11.1 billion in dividends, up 20.6% on last year’s equivalent and contributing four fifths of the aggregate dividend growth over the period.
Latest Videos FromMoneyWeek
Strong balance sheets, persistently high interest rates and low loan book losses – leading to near-record profitability – are supporting the sector’s performance.
While a year ago, it seemed likely that interest rates would continue to fall, reducing net interest margins for banks and the interest income paid on all reserves held at the Bank of England, the picture has changed.
The report pointed to persistent inflation, which has limited the Bank of England’s ability to cut rates, in turn sustaining higher bank earnings.
“The sector’s balance sheets are very strong and this, combined with high profitability has enabled significant dividend growth,” it said.
HSBC was the biggest driver, raising its end-of-year dividend by 25%, funded partly by a suspension of its share buyback programme.
Elsewhere NatWest and Standard Chartered raised payouts by 53% and 75% respectively, while Lloyds increased its own payouts by 14%.
The top sectors that fared well on dividends
The mining sector showed a strong recovery, with dividends from miners 27.5% higher than last year’s cyclical low.
Booming copper, silver and gold prices boosted dividend increases from Antofagasta, Fresnillo and Endeavour respectively, according to the paper.
The report also said that despite slightly lower profits as a result of falling iron ore prices, strong cash flow and a robust balance sheet enabled giant Rio Tinto to increase its final payout for the year by 13%.
Overall mining sector payouts rose 27.5% on a headline basis, up £917 million year-on-year.
Healthcare payouts rose by 6.1%, led by GSK, with the same level of increase (6.1%) shown across broader financials, with London Stock Exchange Group the highest payer in that space.
Which sectors struggled with dividend payouts in Q2?
At the weaker end was the food, drink and tobacco sector, which reported a 15.9% fall, largely due to Diageo, whose earnings have faced a couple of headwinds.
The report said weaker demand for spirits as consumers rein in discretionary spending and distributors work through their excess inventories. The company halved its dividend in response.
In industrials, the report flagged “pockets of weakness”, naming packaging and paper manufacturer Mondi and recruiter Robert Walters as contributing to the 7.9% dip in the sector overall.
Broadly, 11 sectors posted an increase while nine posted a decline in their dividend levels.
What is the outlook for income investors?
As expected, the larger companies saw significantly higher dividend growth than their mid-cap counterparts, with growth levels 7.7% for the top 100 and 4.6% for the mid 250.
Special dividends remain highly unpredictable, reporting a 76% decline over the quarter to £465 million, weighing on the overall headline growth rate.
But these figures are from a high base. For context, Q2 special dividends have averaged £2.2bn over the last five years – even bigger before the pandemic. There has also been an increase in share buybacks in recent months, which might be a factor. The paper notes that this is a mere notable correlation not a proven cause.
While dividend growth is expected to slow in the second half of the year, the strength of the payments in Q2 have led the business to increase its forecast from 3.1% to 3.4%.
UK equities look set for a yield of 3.2% over the next 12 months, while volatile bond markets amid geopolitical uncertainty are underpinning ‘best-buy’ cash savings rates of 4.2% for an average easy access account.
