The European arm of US bond giant Pimco shelled out a bumper £80 million in dividends in 2015, eclipsing the £75 million it paid the previous year, as profits edged higher despite a second successive double-digit percentage fall in assets managed by the business.

Pimco Europe Ltd's latest accounts, which cover the 2015 calendar year and were filed at Companies House on September 19, revealed that in February 2015 the company's directors paid a dividend of £20 million, following that up in May with a further £60 million dividend.