Energy bonanza drives shareholder payouts to quarterly high LONDON : Energy companies reaping record profits from soaring oil and gas prices have helped global dividend payments to shareholders soar above pre-pandemic levels and to a record quarterly high, data showed today (Aug 24). Oil and gas firms, including state-controlled giants in Latin America, accounted for more than two-fifths of the growth in dividend payments in the three months to end-June, according to fund manager Janus Henderson’s latest global dividend report. Banks freed from pandemic-era restrictions on dividends were behind a similar share of the growth in payouts, while consumer firms such as automotive manufacturers also shelled out more. In total, global dividend payments reached US$544.8 billion (RM2.4 trillion) in the second quarter, Janus Henderson calculated, up 11.3% on a headline basis year-on-year after companies slashed dividends during the Covid-19 pandemic. The payouts highlight how stellar a year companies enjoyed in 2021 as economies recovered, and how well corporate profitability has held up this year even as households are plunged into a cost-of-living crisis as inflation soars and fears of a global recession mount.