JCB, the construction and agricultural equipment maker, paid a £300 million dividend last year to its chairman, Lord Bamford, and his family.
Filings for the group’s UK holding company, JCB Service, recorded the payout, which is the biggest in at least a decade from one of the UK’s largest and most successful private companies and a 20 per cent increase on the £250 million that was distributed in 2022.
The payout was made as pre-tax profits grew by 44 per cent, from £557.7 million in 2022 to £805.8 million last year. The accounts for 2023, filed last month, show that the group grew sales in a declining global market. Turnover rose 12.3 per cent, from £5.7 billion in 2022 to £6.4 billion in 2023.