The Henderson Global Dividend Index, a long-term study of global dividend trends , found global investors saw an increase in their dividends by 11.7 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2014.
The report attributed the bulk of the growth to European firms, led by France and Switzerland, which paid US$153.4 billion, up 18.2 per cent on a headline basis.
“The European total was boosted by strong exchange rates against the US dollar. Even so, the 16.4 billion constant currency growth from Europe is the best performance from the region by far over,” said the report.
“Japan also showed convincing growth, up 18.5 per cent to reach US$25.2 billion. With the sharp year-on-year declines in the yen now dissipating, currency effects only made a small deduction from the Japanese total,” it said.
The index also found Australia showed poor growth in US dollar terms, up just 2.4 per cent to US$9.1 billion in what is a relatively small quarter from a seasonal perspective.
“A weaker Australian dollar deducted US$1 billion from the total, meaning that growth on a constant currency basis outstripped regional Asia Pacific peers,” said the report.
“The biggest player was Commonwealth Bank of Australia, making up two fifths of the Australian total,” it said.
Overall the index indicated that on the current trajectory of global dividend growth, it is possible that the world’s listed companies will pay out US$100 billion more this year than in 2013.
