Investors may have to wait until 2025 for a return to pre-pandemic levels
After a torrid year for those in UK equity income funds, investors will be buoyed by the news that in the first quarter of this year UK dividends fell at their slowest rate since the pandemic began.
According to the latest UK Dividend Monitor from Link Group, compared with the 48.2% collapse in underlying dividends in the second quarter of 2020, payments in Q1 2021 fell by 26.7% to £12.7bn ($17.6bn, €14.6bn) which is the slowest rate of decline in the last 12 months.
To put this into context, according to Link Group over the last 12 months the pandemic has caused a 41.6% fall in dividends, with cuts totalling £44.8bn as some two-thirds of companies were forced to made reductions.