Link forecasts 34% hit to 2020 AIM dividend payouts after Q2 cancellations

Set to recover faster than main market

Link Group has forecast that AIM dividend payouts will fall by 34% to a headline £873m in 2020 in its 'best-case scenario', after second-quarter dividends took a hit from cancellations and cuts in response to Covid-19 and a weakening economy.

According to Link's latest AIM Dividend Monitor, AIM payouts in the second quarter fell by an "unprecedented" 33.6% on a headline basis to £266.8m, as two-fifths of second-quarter AIM payers cancelled their dividends outright, while another tenth reduced them year-on-year. Link said the headline figure was supported by special dividends, which at £33m were almost five times larger than the second quarter of 2019 and that excluding specials, dividends fell 40.6% to £234.3m in the second quarter of this year - a level last seen in mid-2016. In its outlook, Link said that its "best-case ...