UK dividends rise in all but 5 years since 1965

It suggests growth in dividend payments is far more reliable than share prices rises as annual increases in dividend payments ran into double percentage figures for almost half of the past 42 years, peaking at 24% in 1979. The golden period for dividend growth was the seven years between 1984 and 1991 when payouts rose by a minimum of 12% each year, Fidelity found. In the five years when aggregate dividend payouts failed to rise, the decreases were small in all but one year. The years were 1967 (-2%), 1993 (-1%), 1998 (-14% following a change to dividend tax credits that also hit pens...