Dividend payments dropped from £30.7bn in the first quarter of 2014 to £25.8bn in Q2, according to the quarterly Capita UK Dividend Monitor, driven by slowing earnings and a stronger pound.

That amounted to dividend growth of just 1.2% on the quarter. Furthermore, the top 15 dividend-paying firms saw their dividends fall by 0.8% year on year, with eight companies seeing payouts decline.

Seven out of the top 15 dividend-paying companies declare their earnings in US dollars and were therefore hit by the pound touching five-year highs against the dollar over the period.

The top-five biggest dividend payers were HSBC, British American Tobacco, Royal Dutch Shell, Glaxosmithkline and BP, paying out £8.8bn in total.

Commodities and financial firms were badly hit: miners fell by 10%, for example.

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Q1’s record figures were primarily due to a large volume of special dividends, particularly from Vodafone which paid out £15.9bn alone in Q1.

However, as a result of the slowdown, Capita has reduced its annual forecast for dividend income from £99.4bn to £98.5bn.

Justin Cooper (pictured), chief executive of Shareholder Solutions, part of Capita Asset Services, said: “Investors saw dividend payouts begin the year with a bang thanks to Vodafone but just one quarter on, headline growth has become a whimper.

“Income investors are hostage to the fortunes of the very biggest listed companies. These global companies have felt the impact of a surging sterling and slowing momentum in the global economy and struggled to maintain -let alone raise- the amount they are returning to investors.”