JCB Distributes Record Dividend to Bamford Family Amid Rising Profits

JCB, a prominent manufacturer of construction and agricultural machinery, has announced a substantial dividend of £300 million to its chairman, Lord Bamford, and his family for the previous year.

According to filings from the group’s UK holding company, JCB Service, this dividend represents the highest payout in a decade for one of the UK’s most prosperous privately-owned companies, marking a 20 percent increase from the £250 million distributed in 2022.

This significant payout coincides with a remarkable 44 percent rise in pre-tax profits, climbing from £557.7 million in 2022 to £805.8 million in the last financial year. The latest accounts for 2023, submitted last month, indicate that the group managed to increase sales despite a challenging global market, with turnover growing by 12.3 percent from £5.7 billion in 2022 to £6.4 billion in 2023.

JCB is renowned for its distinctive yellow excavators and other industrial machinery

Lord Bamford, aged 79, is a Conservative peer and a leading figure in the UK’s wealth community. He took over from his father, Joseph Cyril Bamford, as chairman and managing director of JCB in 1975 when he was just 30 years old.

Born on the day JCB was founded in 1945, Bamford spearheaded the company’s early efforts to expand into European markets in the late 1960s and early 1970s, significantly enhancing JCB’s global recognition. He established the company’s inaugural overseas operation in India in 1979, which has since become its largest market.

Best known for its bright yellow excavators, JCB also produces various earth-moving and materials-handling machines, as well as agricultural and industrial equipment. The company manufactures its own transmission systems in Wales, hydraulic cylinders and cabs in Staffordshire, and engines in Derbyshire.

Bamford, a notable supporter of Brexit, has an estimated net worth of around $12.2 billion. Reports suggest that the Bamford family and their businesses contributed over £5 million to Conservative Party initiatives during the 14 years of Tory governance.

The company reported that robust demand in North America and India last year helped mitigate the challenges faced in the Chinese market.

JCB Service operates as a subsidiary of JCB Group Holdings, a Swiss-based corporation ultimately overseen by the Bamford family, who also own Daylesford Organic—a well-known food, garden, and homeware retail entity recognized for its farm shop in the Cotswolds.

Post Comment