The corporate dividend season is proving beneficial to people with shares in Amsterdam listed companies, the Financieele Dagblad reported on Friday.

At least €31.5bn in cash or shares will be paid out by the 78 Amsterdam listed companies which have already published their 2017 earnings figures. This is an 8.6% increase in total dividends over the previous year.

The FD’s survey revealed that the 78 companies could afford a bigger payout because buoyant economic conditions meant they had earned more money in 2017.

Of the 78 companies surveyed by the paper, 59% raised their dividends while 28% maintained their 2016 payout.

The driving force was ABN Amro which boosted its dividend by 74% to €1.45 per share. This is in line with the bank’s goal of increasing its payout from 40% of earnings in 2015 to 50% now. ABN Amro has one of the highest payout ratios of all Amsterdam listed firms, the FD said. Unilever boosted its dividend by 12%.