Total dividends paid out by UK firms increased by 27% in the first quarter of 2011.
New figures from Capita Registrars found that UK listed firms paid out £19.1bn to their shareholders in the first quarter.
This dividend payout was the largest made in a quarter by UK firms since the second quarter of 2008.
In the same period of time last year, listed UK companies paid out £15.1bn to shareholders.
This big recovery in the value of dividends has been largely attributed to the mining sector. These companies increased their dividends from £491m in the second quarter last year to £1.85bn in the first quarter this year.
Other support for higher dividend payments came from life assurance companies and tobacco companies, with British American Tobacco increasing their dividends by £662m.
These increases put the prospective dividend yield for 2011 as a whole at 3.4%, with the FTSE 100 expected to yield 3.6% this year.
Photo credit: Flickr/rittyrats
