LONDON—Energy companies reaping record profits from soaring oil and gas prices have helped global dividend payments to shareholders soar above pre-pandemic levels and to a record quarterly high, data showed on Wednesday.
Oil and gas firms, including state-controlled giants in Latin America, accounted for more than two-fifths of the growth in dividend payments in the three months to end-June, according to fund manager Janus Henderson’s latest global dividend report.
Banks freed from pandemic-era restrictions on dividends were behind a similar share of the growth in payouts, while consumer firms such as automotive manufacturers also shelled out more.
In total, global dividend payments reached $544.8 billion in the second quarter, Janus Henderson calculated, up 11.3 percent on a headline basis year-on-year after companies slashed dividends during the COVID-19 pandemic….