Some £30.7bn was paid out in dividends during the first quarter of 2014 according to the latest update from Capita Asset Monitor, up 118.5 per cent year on year. The rise was primarily due to the payment of special dividends from Vodafone and others including Easyjet.

Over half of the dividends paid out in the UK came from Vodafone. The group, which sold its stake in US telecom Verizon last year, paid out £15.9bn in total in quarter, the largest payout ever seen in the UK.

However, Vodafone is one of the few large companies that Capita expects to continue to grow their dividends this quarter. Out of the top five payers, which account for 35 per cent of all dividends, Capita forecasts only Vodafone and Shell will increase underlying payouts.

In contrast, it expects small declines in sterling terms for Shell, BP and HSBC.

From a sector perspective, oil and mining companies saw dividends decline due to currency issues while every company in the food producers and travel and leisure sector increased their dividends in quarter one.

Overall though, Capita was cautious on the outlook, with underlying growth slowing to just 3.3 per cent, the smallest increase in two years.

Justin Cooper, chief executive of Shareholder Solutions, part of Capita Asset Services, said: “The size of Q1 dividends is quite extraordinary but it depends heavily on just one company. Beneath the surface the story is quite different.

“It’s very unusual to see so many big companies struggling to increase what they return to investors. This highlights the danger of index investing. If you want an income, you need to understand where growth is emerging and select your sectors and companies carefully.”

Looking ahead he said he expected corporate earnings to improve and renewed dividend growth to continue, helped by the flourishing IPO market.