Interim cash dividends: Companies Act 2006 requirements on distributable profits, relevant accounts, entitlement, timing and procedure, with listed/AIM considerations
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Unless its articles of association state otherwise, a company is taken to possess an implied authority to share profits with its members. This authority is implied rather than expressly conferred, save where the articles exclude it, and it concerns distributions of profit to members in their capacity as shareholders. One such distribution is a dividend, which a company may make to its members. Indeed, dividends are the distribution most frequently used by companies; in practice, they are the standard way profits are returned. That said, no company is legally bound to declare a dividend unless the rights attached to its shares require it, and any obligation must arise from those rights. A member’s entitlement to any dividend arises from the shares they hold—dividend rights are attached to a particular class of the company’s shares, not to the individual personally. A company may not declare or pay a dividend except in line with the respective rights of its shareholders, and any declaration or payment must reflect those rights precisely. Different classes of shares commonly carry differing dividend rights.
‘Dividend’ ordinarily means a share of profits, whether fixed or otherwise, for shareholders as members, not remuneration for services. A dividend is typically...
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Web page updated on 27/05/2026
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I, [ name ], of [ address ], solemnly and sincerely state that: [ Matters to be verified, set out in numbered paragraphs ] I make this solemn statement in good conscience, believing it to be true, and pursuant to the provisions of the Statutory Declarations Act 1835. DECLARED at [ details ] this [ day ] day of [ month and year ] Before me ................................................................................ [ signature of the person before whom the declaration is made ] A [ commissioner for oaths OR [ solicitor OR [ insert other qualification ] ] authorised to administer oaths ]...
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