Dividends paid by UK companies rose 14.3% to hit £28.5bn in the third quarter of 2017, which is a record payout for the quarter and the third largest quarterly total ever, according to Capita Asset Services.
New data from Financial Express Analytics reveals a stunning year for miners and oil companies and persistent trouble for telecoms and retailers.
President-elect Donald Trump might not be all bad for funds that make impactful investments in clean energy, technology or innovative pharmaceuticals, says AXA Investment Managers global head of responsible investment Matt Christensen.
Friday’s non-farm payroll release was a mixed bag but analysts were encouraged by the drop in unemployment levels.
Shares in mining company Glencore slid by 5.5% to 179.4p on Wednesday morning despite the company’s attempts to reassure investors it has a plan to tackle its large debt pile.
Tinto’s underlying earnings slumped 47% in the six months to end June 2016.
Rio Tinto’s shares have fallen sharply on the release of a lacklustre set of results.
Oil prices may have rebounded somewhat on Friday as bargain-hunters stepped in after sharp falls earlier in the week, but commodity producers woes continued to mount as Moody’s released a slew of downbeat announcements.
Black Friday sale mania seemed to have filtered through to stock markets on Friday with large swathes of the global market down on the day.
Generally speaking, when a company announces plans to cut its dividend, sell assets and raise equity, it is not followed by a 10% spike in its share price.
BHP Billiton’s spin off and listing of South32 fell rather flat on Monday, as its shares traded at the lower end of analyst expectations, giving the newly minted firm a market cap around $8.7bn.
Failure to heed the earnings versus cash dichotomy is making mining companies an unappetising prospect for money managers, according to industry experts.
