Not All Dividends Lost to Pandemic Will Return in the New Normal
- Benchmark Stoxx 600’s gains this century are from dividends
- Banks, energy payouts seen suffering, likely to hit U.K. most
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The pandemic may leave a permanent mark on European dividends, the main vehicle by which equity investors have made money in the region’s stocks in this century.
Some payouts halted after the first surge of Covid-19 cases are starting to come back, but sectors including banking and energy face structural pressures. That could usher in long-term changes in Europe’s investment landscape, where shareholders tend to be rewarded with dividends rather than the buybacks popular in the U.S.