By Alan Oscroft – Thursday, 24 December, 2015
When the oil price slumped, the saving grace for BP and Royal Dutch Shell (LSE: RDSB) was dividends – both had the ability to keep paying dividends from other sources should earnings fall for a few years.
Royal Dutch Shell shares have fallen by 42% since their recent peak in May 2014, but that’s been offset to some extent by a 5.7% dividend yield last year and there’s a massive 7.7% expected for 2015. It’s still not a great overall performance, but compared to the way some smaller non-dividend oil stocks have fared, it’s almost heavenly.