Under fire Telecoms firm TalkTalk may not be able to pay out dividends to shareholders, as the fallout of the recent cyber security breach on its website continues.
A City source told CBR that while the cyber attack would not be a direct cause if a dividend was not paid, it would be "the straw that broke the camel’s back."
They also said that paying shareholders whilst being the wrong side of consumer sentiment would be a bad PR move.
The Telegraph has reported Citi bank analysts also predicting that there will be no dividend.
The source said: "I don’t think they should have paid a dividend in the last 2 or 3 years", and said that the firm "would have to borrow in order to pay its shareholders this time around."
Last week TalkTalk said that 4% of its customers had been affected by the data breach.
TalkTalk declined to comment on the speculation. Its latest set of results will be out on Wednesday.
