Uranium Archives - Page 9 of 43

In the banking sector, HSBC was the biggest contributor, despite being under Prudential Regulation Authority constraints during the period after a ban altogether in 2020. Photo: Kevin Coombs/Reuters

UK dividends staged a dramatic recovery in the second quarter of the year, jumping 51.2% on a headline basis to £25.7bn ($35.3bn), new data has shown.

According to the latest UK dividend monitor from Link Group (LNK.AX), dividends beat initial forecasts, with payouts excluding special dividends at £24.3bn, up 43.8%. However, this was still one sixth lower than their pre-crisis average, highlighting the long road to full recovery.

The main driver was companies restarting dividends; around 90% of the year-on-year increase came from firms that had cancelled dividends in Q2 2020 due to the outbreak of COVID-19.

The bounce-back was fastest among mid-cap firms, reflecting the greater decline they suffered last year.

Dividends beat initial forecasts, with payouts excluding special dividends at £24.3bn, up 43.8%. Chart: Link Group

Almost every sector saw payouts rise year-on-year, however, the report showed that the three biggest dividend-paying sectors were mining, banking and oil.

Of the £8.7bn recovery in UK plc Q2 dividends year-on-year, the first two of these industries accounted for over two thirds of the increase, but the oil sector acted as a brake on the recovery.

Mining dividends made up a quarter of the second quarter total at £6.3bn, boosted by Rio Tinto (RIO). In the banking sector, HSBC (HSBA.L) was the biggest contributor, despite being under Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) constraints during the period after a ban altogether in 2020.

The PRA is the organisation within the Bank of England (BoE) responsible for oversight of the sector.

Elsewhere, BAE Systems (BA.L) was also among a significant number of companies which returned to their usual schedule of paying a second-quarter dividend, having paid late in 2020.

Link Group said the biggest contribution to the upside surprise came from industrials, financials and basic materials, accounting for almost a third each.

It now expects headline dividend growth of 24.4% to a new total of £79.5bn this year, while underlying dividends are set to rise by 13.4% to £71.2bn. This is 3.9 percentage points, or £2.7bn, more than its April forecast.

The Australian-based IT service management firm said “the upside tailwinds will get less favourable from here” but that it expects banking dividends to “rebound now that regulatory limits have been scrapped.”

However this will not immediately bounce back to pre-pandemic levels as share buybacks will also feature.

“We have regularly cautioned over the last year that dividend patterns will be very noisy as we move through the recovery phase. This will make for choppy waters in the months ahead, but it does not mean we are pessimistic,” Ian Stokes, managing director, corporate markets UK and Europe, at Link Group said.

“All the indicators of economic growth look very encouraging, and companies have come out of the crisis in most cases with their balance sheets looking strong. Resurgent profits and healthy bank balances mean more dividends for shareholders. These wider trends also help explain why the regulator has lifted the embargo on dividends from capital-rich banks.”

Watch: Dividends and buybacks back on track

TORONTO (Reuters) -BHP Group has reached conditional agreement with a unit of Westshore Terminals Investment Corp for port services for the global miner's proposed Jansen potash mine in Canada, the terminal operator said late on Thursday, moving the project closer to fruition.

The port agreement is subject to approval by BHP's board and conditional on it moving ahead with Jansen's first phase, Westshore said in a release.

The world's biggest listed miner has estimated Jansen would cost up to $5.7 billion in its first phases.

The project in Canada's Saskatchewan province offers diversification into agricultural markets given that potash is a key element in plant nutrition that also makes crops more drought resistant.

"BHP confirms that Westshore Terminals Limited Partnership … has signed an agreement to provide port services for the Jansen potash project in Saskatchewan," BHP said in a statement to Reuters.

Last month BHP said it would present its board with a decision on whether to move ahead with Jansen after choosing between two port options.

"If the Jansen project does proceed, the agreement requires Westshore to handle potash for BHP for a term to 2051, subject to extension," Westshore said.

Under the agreement, Vancouver-based Westshore would construct infrastructure to handle potash at Westshore’s Roberts Bank Terminal by 2026, with BHP funding the construction.

The pact would become binding on BHP if it announces a final decision to proceed with Jansen's first stage, Westshore said.

Westshore's Toronto-listed shares climbed as much as 38% Friday.

(Reporting by Jeff Lewis; editing by Jason Neely, Kirsten Donovan)

London stocks were set to scrape out a gain out for the week, helped by miners and Vodafone, as investors sifted through a mixed set of economic data on Friday. “While there are questions around high-street retail demand despite government steps to reopen the economy, the saving grace appears to have come from football fans who drove up alcohol and food sales for the euro 2020 tournament,” said Joshua Mahony, senior market analyst at IG, in a note to clients. “July saw the U.K. economy’s recent growth spurt stifled by the rising wave of virus infections, which subdued customer demand, disrupted supply chains and caused widespread staff shortages, and cast a darkening shadow over the outlook,” said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit, in a press release.

(Adds BHP statement, Westshore shares)

TORONTO, July 23 (Reuters) – BHP Group has reached conditional agreement with a unit of Westshore Terminals Investment Corp for port services for the global miner's proposed Jansen potash mine in Canada, the terminal operator said late on Thursday, moving the project closer to fruition.