Plummeting share prices cause pain to portfolios. But for investors with long-term horizons, reinvesting the regular income provided by company dividends usually serves as protection against short-term storms while a stock’s value recovers. And even if shareholder returns are cut or rebased, a balanced share portfolio (or dividend-focused investment trusts or tracker funds) should still provide some yield, especially for those in retirement and reliant on dividend income. With yield comes that most precious commodity in today’s financial markets: cash.
That’s the theory, at least. But amid the growing corporate crisis, the ordinary income safety net is already starting to fray. Facing unprecedented threats to cash flow and demand, companies are cancelling or suspending their dividends en masse. In recent weeks, more than 30 UK-listed companies with annual dividends of at least £10m have cut, suspended or decided to review their distributions to shareholders. By our calculations, this already amounts to more than £2.9bn of dividend cuts from the FTSE 350 alone.
| Company | Date | Type | Saving |
| Aggreko | 23/03/2020 | Final cut (retroactive) | £47m |
| Bellway | 25/03/2020 | Interim suspended | c.£62m |
| Britvic | 23/03/2020 | Interim under review | - |
| Crest Nicholson | 19/03/2020 | Final cut (retroactive) | £56m |
| Elementis | 19/03/2020 | Final cut (retroactive) | $33m |
| Go-Ahead Group | 23/03/2020 | Interim cut (retroactive) | £13m |
| Grafton | 24/03/2020 | Interim cut (retroactive) | £30m |
| Intercontintal Hotels Group | 20/03/2020 | Final cut (retroactive) | $150m |
| ITV | 23/03/2020 | Final cut (retroactive) | £216m |
| IWG | 23/03/2020 | Final cut (retroactive), buyback suspended | £42.4m |
| John Menzies | 10/03/2020 | Cut | £12.2m |
| Kingfisher | 23/03/2020 | Final cut | £158m |
| M&S | 20/03/2020 | Final cut | £190m |
| Marston's | 18/03/2020 | Interim likely suspended | £20m |
| McCarthy & Stone | 18/03/2020 | Final cut (retroactive) | £18.8m |
| MicroFocus | 18/03/2020 | Final cut (retroactive) | £165.1m |
| Morgan Sindall | 25/03/2020 | Final cut (retroactive) | £17m |
| National Express | 19/03/2020 | Final under review | £57.1m |
| NewRiver Reit | 19/03/2020 | Cut | £16.5m |
| Next | 19/03/2020 | Under review | £76.4m |
| Persimmon | 25/03/2020 | Interim cancelled, final postponed | £748m |
| Playtech | 19/03/2020 | Final cut (retroactive), buyback suspended | €65m |
| Redrow | 24/03/2020 | Interim cut (retroactive) | £37m |
| Rentokil | 25/03/2020 | Final cut (retroactive) | £67.3m |
| Shaftesbury | 24/03/2020 | Interim suspended | - |
| Stagecoach | 23/03/2020 | Suspended until further notice | - |
| Taylor Wimpey | 24/03/2020 | Final and special cut (retroactive) | £485m |
| Travis Perkins | 20/03/2020 | Final cut (retroactive) | £83.2m |
| Whitbread | 24/03/2020 | Final suspended | - |
| William Hill | 16/03/2020 | Suspended until further notice | £46.7m |
| Source: Investegate, company announcements | |||