Welcome to Ex Dividend Date

Benchmark Yields

Understanding Dividend Investing

When buying shares, to be eligible to receive the dividend you must have purchased your shareholding before, and held the shares up to and including, the ex-dividend date. You can then sell the shares at any point after the market opens on the ex-dividend date and still receive the dividend payment. If you are new to dividend investing, we have a guide to dividends and dividend definitions. If you have any questions, notice any errors in the data displayed or have any other feedback please don't hesitate to contact us.

Over the long term, and especially when reinvested, the most impressive returns in the stockmarket come from income in the form of dividend payments. Before buying shares for income investing, use our website to filter ex-dividend dates and find dividend paying shares according to:

• Index: FTSE 100, FTSE 250, FTSE Small Cap, FTSE Fledgling and AIM
• Ex-Div Date: when the share is going ex-dividend
• Payment Date: when the dividend is due to be paid

When considering whether to invest in a company for income on the stockmarket, investors will often look towards benchmark yields before deciding whether to buy shares. One such benchmark is the yield of the 10 year gilt. Most investors will demand a premium to the 10 year gilt yield, which, as a government-backed asset, is seen as a far less risky investment compared to equities. As a result, you will most likely be looking for a premium to this. However, a caveat is that anything more than around 1.5 times this may be too good to be true and prove to be shortlived. Other benchmarks include the FTSE dividend yield, with investors keen to confirm a dividend is competitive with the wider market.

How ex-dividend dates are set on the London Stock Exchange

For UK-listed shares on the London Stock Exchange (Main Market and AIM), most companies follow the London Stock Exchange Dividend Procedure Timetable 2026 . This sets out the standard pattern for ex-dividend, record and payment dates.

• Typical weekly pattern: ex-dividend dates normally fall on a Thursday, with the associated record date on the Friday (one business day later, based on standard T+2 settlement).
• Announcement timing: to go ex-dividend on a given date, the dividend must usually be announced at least six business days before the record date and must clearly state the dividend amount, currency, record date and payment date.
• Dividends with options (such as scrip dividends, DRIPs or currency elections) normally have an election deadline at least ten business days after the record date. The Exchange recommends paying straightforward cash dividends within around 30 business days of the record date, and dividends with options within around 20 business days of the election date.
• Special cases and overseas issuers: special dividends, dividends linked to corporate actions (such as takeovers or consolidations), overseas primary listings, ETFs, depository receipts and some debt securities may follow a non-standard timetable agreed with the London Stock Exchange. In these cases, the ex-dividend date can differ from the usual Thursday pattern.

The timetable is designed as guidance only and the London Stock Exchange may amend or deviate from it where necessary to maintain orderly markets. The ex-dividend dates shown on this website reflect the latest information disclosed by each company and may occasionally differ from the standard timetable.