Dividend growth likely to slow after record 2014

* Dividends seen rising just 0.8 pct - Henderson

* Oil price fall, stronger dollar to weigh on index

* Equity returns outstrip benchmark bond yields

LONDON, Feb 16 (Reuters) - A record-breaking year for dividends in 2014 is unlikely to be followed by much growth this year as a slump in oil prices and a surging U.S. dollar cast a shadow over payouts from energy and emerging markets companies, a new report has said.

Asset-manager Henderson Global Investors said on Monday it expected global dividends to rise by 0.8 percent to $1.18 trillion in 2015, a big drop from last year's 10.5 percent but still an increase at a time when returns on stocks in Europe are strongly outstripping benchmark bond yields.

The energy sector is the second-biggest dividend-paying industry and there are question marks over its ability to keep gushing cash, the report said, though it specified the risks were higher for emerging-markets companies than for big energy majors such as Royal Dutch Shell (Xetra: R6C1.DE - news) or Total (Swiss: FP.SW - news) .

Africa-focused oil and gas explorer Tullow Oil (LSE: TLW.L - news) last week reported its first loss in 15 years and became one of the only companies in the sector to sacrifice its dividend to deal with a sharp decline in oil prices.

The resurgent U.S. dollar is also set to weigh on dividends -- Henderson's index is dollar-denominated -- after a year in which the United States was the main engine of global dividend growth. Emerging-markets dividends fell in 2014 and Russia's rouble crisis will eat into payouts in 2015, Henderson said.

Company sector payout power is also beginning to diverge, at a time when volatility in other markets is playing havoc with estimates of future profits. Technology companies and firms focused on discretionary consumption grew dividends at double-digit percentage rates last year, while utilities and mining industries saw payouts fall.

Financial companies, however, are making a comeback: Swiss Re, Banco Santander (Amsterdam: SANT.AS - news) and Raiffeisen Bank are among the top 10 dividend-yielding stocks in Europe -- though some of these are mainly due to share price falls -- while UBS (LSE: 0QNR.L - news) has trebled its dividend and ING has announced its first payout since the crisis. (Reporting by Lionel Laurent; Editing by Mark Potter)