Europe Dividends Under Pressure, Putting $178 Billion at Risk
- Citi says region’s dividends could decline 50% in 2020
- European firms paid out $357 billion to shareholders in 2019
A pedestrian walks past a closed cafe in Bern on March 27.
Photographer: Stefan Wermuth/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The coronavirus pandemic may cause dividend payments by European companies to halve in 2020, threatening a major source of income for investors in the region’s equities, according to Citigroup Inc.
With an increasing number of companies lowering, suspending or reviewing their payouts, Citigroup strategists led by Robert Buckland say more could be on the way as a 1.6% contraction in global growth would slash European earnings by 50%.