Ex-dividend date

At last week’s Annual General Meeting, shareholders approved the final dividend payment of 17 pence per share for the full year 2018-19.

Eligible full-time employees with the maximum allocation of 913 Free Shares will receive a dividend of around £155 (before tax) on 4 September 2019. This brings the total dividends since privatisation to around £1,091 (before tax)*.

Eligible part-time employees will receive a dividend based on their pro rata allocation of Free Shares.

Ex-dividend date

Today, 25 July 2019, is the ex-dividend date. This is the first day that anyone could purchase a Royal Mail share, and not receive the final dividend payment for 2018-19.

This is important because, typically, a company’s share price will start trading at a lower price on its ex-dividend date. All other things being equal, the difference in the share price is normally approximately the value of the dividend payment. This is because anyone buying the shares from that point would not receive that dividend payment.

Many other factors can impact a company’s share price. It is ultimately decided by the stock market. The share price reflects the market’s view of the business, its prospects and general market conditions. The price and value of any shares can go down as well as up, depending on demand for the shares. Demand can be influenced by a number of factors, including market demand, the company’s performance and what is called ‘sentiment’ – what people believe or expect will happen in the future.

*Up until 16 January 2019, eligible full-time employees with the maximum allocation of 913 Free Shares have received around £936 in dividends (before tax) since privatisation, and will receive around £155 on 4 September 2019. Click here for details of all dividend payments since privatisation.