Heathrow to resume paying small dividend to shareholders from 2022

London Heathrow airport says it could resume paying a small dividend to shareholders from 2022, the Sunday Times reported.

Heathrow said it would not pay dividends this year or next in return for leniency from its shareholders in a submission to the Civil Aviation Authority. The airport will resume payouts of about 400 million pounds ($538 million) a year in two years’ time, down from an expected 600 million pounds, the paper said.

The CAA rejected Heathrow’s demand for a pandemic bailout, without which the airport said it would have to curb its investment and face increased borrowing costs.

One of Europe’s busiest airports before the pandemic, Heathrow has been battered during 2020 along with the wider airline industry as the Covid-19 pandemic brought global travel to a near halt. The London hub’s passenger tally was down 82% last month compared with a year earlier, it reported in November, with further job losses looking likely even after a 30% cut in management.