The latest AJ Bell Dividend Dashboard report shows FTSE 100 constituents are on course to pay out a record £88.8bn in dividends this year.

This total is dominated by three big companies. Between them,
BP (BP.), Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB) and HSBC (HSBA) are expected to account for 29% of the total dividend payment.

All these dividends are denominated in dollars and the 8% year-on-year growth is largely driven by the weakness of the pound aganst the US currency.

The average dividend cover for the FTSE 100, showing how many times dividend per share is covered by earnings per share, is improving at 1.75 times, up from 1.71 times at the end of the first quarter.

It has not hit two times, which as a rule of thumb is considered an optimal level, since 2014.

The 10 highest yielding stocks have average cover of just over 1.29 times. (TS)

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