What do the terms ex-dividend and ecord date mean?
Before announcing each dividend and in consultation with the London Stock Exchange, we set a date on which our shares will be sold without entitlement to the dividend. This is known as going ‘ex-dividend’. Before that date the shares are said to be ‘cum dividend’. If you buy shares before the ex-dividend date you are entitled to receive the dividend recently announced. If you buy on or after that date, in the ex-dividend period, that dividend is payable to the previous owner.
