Capita predicts 'year of no dividend growth' as payouts stall

Despite a recent decline in the value of sterling, a strong pound has nonetheless hurt companies reliant on dollar-denominated income for most of the year, impacting previous forecasts which predicted dividends would top £100bn. In its latest report, Capita has cut its forecast for 2014 from £101.8bn to a headline figure (which includes special dividends) of £97.1bn. While 2014's figure is still sharply higher than the previous year, when total dividends came in at £80.3bn, almost a fifth of this year's payout comes from one-off special dividends. Underlying dividend growth has eff...