Dividend payments are made throughout the year by UK listed companies, and each company will have a different date on which they will pay their dividend(s). This dividend payment date will vary each year, and it will be communicated to the market beforehand in a dividend announcement. Most companies pay multiple dividends per year, so there will be multiple dividend announcements each year, and the payment dates for these dividends are usually evenly spread out throughout the year.
Shell 2019 Dividends | Shell 2020 Dividends | ||
---|---|---|---|
Announcement Date | Payment Date | Announcement Date | Payment Date |
31-Jan-19 | 25-Mar-19 | 30-Jan-20 | 23-Mar-20 |
02-May-19 | 24-Jun-19 | 30-Apr-20 | 22-Jun-20 |
01-Aug-19 | 23-Sep-19 | 30-Jul-20 | 21-Sep-20 |
31-Oct-19 | 18-Dec-19 | 29-Oct-20 | 16-Dec-20 |
As an example, we can look at the FTSE 100 oil and gas company Shell. Shell pays four dividends per year, and the table above shows the dividend announcement dates, and payments dates for the years 2019 and 2020. We can see that the dividend payment dates vary slightly each year, but overall the dividends are paid around the same time each year. This is true for nearly all dividend paying companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. The dividend payment dates for most companies will be around the same dates as previous years. You can check all upcoming and past dividend payment dates for UK listed companies on the dividend payment dates page.
While Shell pays fours dividends each year, in Mar, Jun, Sep, and Dec, other companies will also pay dividends during these months and throughout the year. The chart at the top shows the distribution of dividend payments dates for all UK listed companies in the previous 12 months.