
Dividends
As a result of the earnings performance, the Board is declaring a fourth interim dividend for 2024 of 5.8 pence per share which will be paid on 10 January 2025 to shareholders on the Register on 6 December 2024 with an associated ex-dividend date of 5 December 2024. This takes the total dividend for the year to 22.9 pence per share (2023: 22.8p), representing the 24th consecutive annual dividend increase declared by the Company. At the time of writing, the Company’s shares are trading on a yield of 7%, which is among the highest in the AIC UK Equity Income sector.
After payment of the fourth interim dividend and based on the current number of shares in issue, 0.14 pence per share will be transferred to revenue reserves which will be increased to 15.76 pence per share.
The Board is committed to maintaining and extending the Company’s track record of dividend growth. We therefore expect that, in the absence of any adverse circumstances, in the coming financial year we will extend our track record to 25 consecutive years of dividend growth by paying a dividend of at least 23.0 pence per share. We believe that we are in a position to do this because the most recent analysis from the Portfolio Manager indicates that the portfolio will be able to cover this cost out of the current year earnings. We are also carrying revenue reserves of £10.3 million in the balance sheet which we could also utilise if needed. We expect that the first three interim dividends will be 5.7 pence per share, payable in March, June and September and the fourth interim will be at least 5.9 pence per share payable in January 2026.
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