Dividends hit again in Q3 as one-third of companies cut payouts

Some companies have resumed payments after earlier cuts

Total global dividends fell by more than 14% in the third quarter of 2020 as a third of companies cancelled their payouts, according to Janus Henderson Investors' latest Global Dividend Index report.

Dividends paid between July and September totalled $329.8bn, the asset manager's report stated, down by $55bn on the same period in 2019. In total, $224bn has been cut from dividend payments globally in the first nine months of 2020 when compared to 2019. However, this was an improvement on the 18.3% decline in payouts recorded in the second quarter, which Janus Henderson put down to "seasonal patterns" in payments that favoured "parts of the world where dividends have been more resilient". The Big Question: What now for the UK as lockdown 2.0 begins? The UK was one of the worst...