By - Team Kalkine Media
Things are gradually returning to normal. With the vaccination process starting in the UK and other vaccine candidates lining up to get a nod from authorities, the situation has boosted the morale of the people and the investors.
When the UK announced its second lockdown in November, it had sent jitters among investors fearing another slowdown, resulting in low revenue generation, and slashing of dividends.
But now most of the companies are in a better position to pay dividends. In fact, some have already started to resume payouts. Recently, the Bank of England allowed the banks to resume their dividends, bonuses and share buybacks, which was cancelled in March.
We will be discussing the top 10 FTSE stocks that have decided to give dividends in 2020 and we can keep a watch on them for next year.
Rio Tinto PLC is a mining company engaged in production of a variety of metals for manufacturing of various products. The company operates in 36 different countries and has been delivering a good performance across all its assets that is visible from its quarterly production updates. There was a 5 per cent increase in the Bauxite production to 14.5 million tonnes in Q3 2020 as compared to that of Q3 2019.
An interim ordinary dividend of $2.5 billion (155 US cents per share) was declared by the company in its H1 2020 results for the period ending 30 June. It was 3 per cent higher than the first half of 2019. The interim pay-out ratio was 53 per cent of the H1 underlying earnings.
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The FTSE100-listed stock is a leading house building company of Britain which has its headquarters in York, England. Persimmon has performed well despite the pandemic challenges and uncertainty in the markets and is on track to deliver good results this year as per the company’s expectations.
During Q3 2020, which ended on 9 November, there was a 38 per cent surge in the average private weekly sales rates per site in comparison to Q3 2019. The company had £960 million of cash as on 31 October (2019: £371 million).
An interim dividend of 40 pence per share was paid by the company in September, and a further interim dividend of 70 pence per share will be paid on 14 December.
The UK-based pharmaceutical giant is all set to gain big because of the Covid-19 vaccine, which is being developed by the company in collaboration with the University of Oxford. It has rekindled hopes in the people by proving 70 per cent effective in the final stage of clinical trials.
In an update released on 5 November, the company said their total revenue has gone up by 8 per cent to $19,207 million in the year-to-date (10 per cent at CER). The reported EPS saw an increase of 111 per cent to $1.66 in the year-to-date (113 per cent at CER). A total interim dividend of $3,572 million was paid by the company, which included the second interim dividend of 2019 and the first interim dividend of 2020.
Established more than a century ago with its headquarters in London, the company is engaged in manufacturing and selling of cigarettes, tobacco and other nicotine products.
The company recently declared its H2 2020 trading update in which it disclosed that the constant currency adjusted revenue would be 1 to 3 per cent higher than they have expected for FY2020. At present, the corporate value is up by 20 bps and volume share by 30 bps year-to-date.
The group announced 210.4 pence per ordinary share of interim dividend on 27 February, in four equivalent quarterly instalments. The strong liquidity position of the company has resulted in a dividend-payout of 65 per cent of adjusted diluted EPS.
Listed on the FTSE 250 index, the company is a global leader in supplying refractories which are used in industrial processes. The company saw a steady improvement in the order book in Q3 ending 30 September. The adjusted EBITA margin remained unchanged at 2.3 per cent in comparison with the H1 2020 results. The company boasted of its cash position of €1.1 billion.
An interim dividend of €0.50 per share was declared by the company, driven by the robust cash generation and payable on 21 December.
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Headquartered in Slough, the British multinational company produces consumer goods used as health and hygiene products.
The group witnessed a 13.3 per cent LFL growth in Q3 and 12.4 per cent LFL YTD growth. The company’s underlying operational advances were driven by the continued growth in its leading global disinfection brands. The eCommerce sales also increased by over 45 per cent in Q3 and over 50 per cent YTD.
The group declared an interim dividend of 73.0 pence (2019: 73.0 pence) in its half yearly results published in July.
Headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, Ferguson PLC is the largest distributor of plumbing supplies, PVF, waterworks and heating products in the US. The resilient business model of the company enabled it to achieve revenue growth of 3.1 per cent in Q1 ending 31 October. There was an 11.8 per cent surge in the trading profit resulting from tight cost control.
The dividend of 208.2 cents per share was announced after the shareholder’s approval in the AGM. Approximately $467 million was paid as dividends to shareholders on 11 December.
The FTSE 100 stock is an Ireland-based marketing, international sales and support services group. DCC has continued to show improvement in its operational and financial performance, resulting in 8.3 per cent increase in the adjusted operating profit to £176.1 million in H1 2020 in comparison with the previous year (H1 2019: £162.6 million).
The company too declared an interim dividend of 51.95 pence per share, which increased by 5 per cent from 49.48 pence in the same period in 2019.
The company is one of the very popular LSE-listed stocks, which has its headquarters in London and Rotterdam. The company is into the production of consumer goods. The group witnessed a 4.4 per cent increase in the underlying sales, with a 3.9 per cent increase in volume and 0.5 per cent in the price for Q3. There was also a 5.3 per cent growth in the emerging markets underlying sales and 3.1 per cent in developed markets.
A quarterly dividend of €0.4104 per share was announced by the board of the group.
Admiral Group PLC is a financial services company of Britain, which has its headquarters in Cardiff, Wales. It is involved in providing services such as car insurance to the people of the UK and worldwide.
The company has performed exceptionally well in H1 2020 with a 31 per cent increase in the statutory profit before tax (£286.1 million) and a 32 per cent surge in the EPS to 82.9 pence, in comparison with H1 2019.
A total of 70.5 pence per share (normal dividend of 55.0 pence per share and special dividend of 15.5 pence per share) was declared by the board an increase of 12 per cent (interim dividend 2019: 63.0 pence per share). A deferred special dividend of 20.7 pence per share for FY 2019 was also announced.