Fidelity: dividends more reliable than share price rises

The research found that dividend payments from the UK market have shown an annual increase in all but five years since the beginning of 1965. Annual increases in dividend payments ran into double percentage figures for almost half of the past 42 years, peaking at 24pc in 1979. The golden period for dividend growth was the seven years between 1984 and 1991 when payouts rose by a minimum of 12pc each year. In the five years when aggregate dividend payouts failed to rise, the decreases were small in all but one year. The years were 1967 (-2pc), 1993 (-1pc), 1998 (-14pc following a change t...