Companies in the energy sector benefited from the skyrocketing energy prices and increased their dividends. — © Shutterstock
Companies worldwide paid out $1,560 billion in dividends last year. That is a new record, according to a report from asset manager Janus Henderson on Wednesday.
Source: BELGA
This is an increase of 8.4 percent compared to 2021, which was also a record year.
The oil and gas companies and the financial sector together account for about half of the recorded growth.
Companies in the energy sector were able to benefit from the skyrocketing energy prices. They increased their dividends by more than 66 percent.
Banks, on the other hand, continued to benefit from the re-approval of dividend payments after the European Central Bank halted them at the start of the pandemic.
Nearly nine in ten companies surveyed (88 percent) have increased or maintained their dividends in the past year, concludes Janus Henderson, who surveyed 1,200 companies.