The price losses that the corona pandemic brought shareholders were over comparatively quickly.
The fact that numerous companies cut their dividends or even suspended them altogether hurt them for much longer.
For example, the owners of Pfandbriefbank pbb actually waved a generous special dividend in 2020, which would have given a return of almost 6 percent even at the highest share price.
A decision on an additional payment is to be made in autumn.
It goes without saying that the share price is only just under 60 percent of the pre-Corona high.
What is currently more of a legitimate hope for PBB shareholders is already becoming reality elsewhere. According to fund company Janus Henderson, the dividend recovery around the world picked up speed in the second quarter. In a year-on-year comparison, dividend payments have increased by 26.3 percent. At $ 471.7 billion, they would be just under 7 percent below the level of the second quarter of 2019. The company assumes that the distributions will return to the highs before the pandemic over the next twelve months.
Three quarters of the year-over-year increase in dividends came from companies resuming their distributions.
On an adjusted basis, dividend growth in the second quarter was a moderate 11 percent.
This is above expectations and is very encouraging.
Hardly any changes in Japan and America
However, the recovery is taking place differently.
While payouts rose two-thirds in Europe, it was just 0.4 percent in Japan and just 5 percent in North America.
This reflects the extent, timing and scope of the cuts made in 2020 in the face of the pandemic.
In Europe beyond Great Britain, the sharp increase of 20 percent on an adjusted basis is almost exclusively due to the resumption of canceled distributions.
France and Spain are the front runners, while Switzerland is lagging - this is a reversal of the 2020 picture.
84 percent of companies around the world paid the same dividend or a higher dividend.
Most of the cuts were in emerging markets because, unlike in industrialized countries, dividends were not cut as a preventive measure.
For the full year Janus Henderson is now assuming dividend payments in the amount of 1.39 trillion dollars, which corresponds to a dividend growth of 10.7 percent.
This is only 3 percent below the pre-pandemic level.
Record household savings and the pent-up demand in consumption will have a positive impact on corporate profits, says Jane Shoemake, portfolio manager on the Global Equity Income team. In addition, companies are flooded with liquidity, banks generally have excess capital, and there is further tailwind from monetary and fiscal policy. In addition, the regulatory restrictions on bank dividends would be lifted. This will make a significant contribution to the recovery in dividends in the coming months.