The 25 major companies listed on the Amsterdam stock market paid out a total of €29.3bn cash to their shareholders in dividends and share buy-backs in the first half of 2008, according to research by the Financieele Dagblad.

The amount is a 38% rise on the same period last year.
The bourse-listed firms saw their combined profits fall 8% to €32.4bn from January to June this year as a result of the downward turn in the economy worldwide, the FD says. But turnover went up 22% to €421.3bn.