Income investors face 'leaner year' for UK dividends

Structural and macroeconomic pressures blamed

Income investors face a "leaner year" amid further dividend cuts for UK-listed firms, with structural and macroeconomic pressures forcing companies to bring a run of record investor payouts to an end, market commentators have warned.

Vodafone and Marks & Spencer were recent high-profile examples of firms opting for cuts of 40% and 26% respectively in May, leading to punishing falls in their share prices and opening up buying opportunities for some equity investors. UK Dividend Monitor: Financials help headline dividends approach £100bn in 2018 This followed an expectation-beating total of £99.8bn paid out by UK companies in 2018, followed by a record Q1 dividend total of £19.7bn, according to Link Asset Services (LAS), with the UK witnessing strong and consistent dividend growth for the past five years, according ...