Interactive Investor

Lloyds Bank among FTSE 100 stocks paying £14bn in dividends

Typically the biggest month of the year for blue-chip dividend payments, Graeme Evans runs through the 34 top companies returning billions to shareholders in September.

4th September 2024 13:57

Graeme Evans from interactive investor

FTSE 100 investors can expect a big income boost this month when 34 companies pay £14.3 billion of dividends, including the four largest stocks of AstraZeneca (LSE:AZN), Shell (LSE:SHEL), Unilever (LSE:ULVR) and HSBC Holdings (LSE:HSBA).

The packed calendar also features Lloyds Banking Group (LSE:LLOY), NatWest Group (LSE:NWG) and Barclays (LSE:BARC), alongside the mining giants Rio Tinto Registered Shares (LSE:RIO), Anglo American (LSE:AAL) and Glencore (LSE:GLEN), and widely held BP (LSE:BP.) and BT Group (LSE:BT.A).

The best dividend yield on show is the 9.1% of insurer Legal & General Group (LSE:LGEN), followed by income stock Imperial Brands (LSE:IMB)and six others that trade above 5%.

September’s total haul is comfortably the biggest sum of the year to date, although with no Glencore top-up award the figure is short of 2023’s £15.7 billion.

The miner distributed £2.9 billion last year, whereas the forthcoming payment on 20 September will amount to £603 million through the base award of 6.5 US cents a share (4.96p).

The company has put bumper returns on hold in order to improve its debt position following the transformational deal to buy the steelmaking coal business of Canada’s Teck Resources.

Hopes of a top-up resumption from next year have been boosted by Glencore’s announcement that it no longer intends to spin off its enlarged coal business via a New York listing.

Among the other miners, the £1.7 billion due to be paid by Rio Tinto on 26 September is the largest in the FTSE 100 for the month of September.

The iron ore specialist is paying an unchanged half-year dividend of 177 US cents a share (135.08p), equivalent to 50% of earnings and contributing to a yield of 7.4%.

The award had been 376 US cents in August 2021, when Rio also included a special dividend of 185 US cents for a total distribution of $9.1 billion equivalent to a 75% payout ratio.

Anglo American is due to pay shareholders the following day, having declared 42 US cents a share (32.05p) in a move worth £389 million.

The commodities sector accounts for two of this month’s other big paydays, led by Shell on 23 September when it hands out £1.6 billion via a quarterly dividend of 34.4 US cents (25.25p).

BP shareholders are due to receive an improved second-quarter dividend of eight US cents (6.05p) a share on 20 September, the 10% increase being offset by the recent reverse for shares to a two-year low.

The biggest FTSE 100 company on September’s dividend payment roster is AstraZeneca, with the $200 billion pharmaceuticals business due to distribute £1.2 billion on 9 September. It has increased its interim award by seven cents to $1 (77.6p) a share.

Unilever, the London market’s third-largest company following a strong run this year, has boosted its quarterly dividend for payment on Friday by 3% to 36.96p a share.

HSBC, which is the fourth-largest stock in the FTSE 100 and also one of the best yielding at 7.4%, is due to distribute £1.4 billion on 27 September after announcing a second interim dividend of 10 US cents (7.63p) a share.

Elsewhere in the banking sector, Lloyds investors can expect 1.06p a share on 10 September in a move worth £655 million. NatWest will follow on 13 September with 6p a share totalling £500 million, an increase of 9% on last year’s award.

The Barclays interim dividend of 2.9p a share compares with 2.7p in 2023 and will cost £424 million when it is paid on 20 September.

The first FTSE 100 dividend distribution of the month is due to take place tomorrow (Thursday) when LexisNexis business information group RELX (LSE:REL) pays 18.2p a share.

BT shareholders will have to wait until next Wednesday for their 5.69p a share dividend, a move worth £557 million and one that increased the total for 2023-24 by 3.9% to 8p.

Company

Payment date

Current dividend yield (%)

RELX (LSE:REL)

05-Sep

1.7

Unilever (LSE:ULVR)

06-Sep

3

AstraZeneca (LSE:AZN)

09-Sep

1.7

Lloyds Banking Group (LSE:LLOY)

10-Sep

4.8

Ashtead Group (LSE:AHT)

10-Sep

1.5

BT Group (LSE:BT.A)

11-Sep

5.7

NatWest Group (LSE:NWG)

13-Sep

5.1

Reckitt Benckiser Group (LSE:RKT)

13-Sep

4.3

Pershing Square Holdings Ord GBP (LSE:PSH)

13-Sep

1.1

IMI (LSE:IMI)

16-Sep

1.6

Melrose Industries (LSE:MRO)

16-Sep

1.1

Pearson (LSE:PSON)

16-Sep

2.1

Rentokil Initial (LSE:RTO)

16-Sep

1.8

Fresnillo (LSE:FRES)

17-Sep

0.9

London Stock Exchange Group (LSE:LSEG)

18-Sep

1.1

Haleon (LSE:HLN)

19-Sep

1.6

SSE (LSE:SSE)

19-Sep

3.1

Barclays (LSE:BARC)

20-Sep

3.6

Entain (LSE:ENT)

20-Sep

2.8

Glencore (LSE:GLEN)

20-Sep

2.6

Hikma Pharmaceuticals (LSE:HIK)

20-Sep

2.8

Informa (LSE:INF)

20-Sep

2.2

Segro (LSE:SGRO)

20-Sep

3.2

BP (LSE:BP.)

20-Sep

5.4

Shell (LSE:SHEL)

23-Sep

3.9

Rio Tinto Registered Shares (LSE:RIO)

26-Sep

7.4

Schroders (LSE:SDR)

26-Sep

6.4

Anglo American (LSE:AAL)

27-Sep

3.6

HSBC Holdings (LSE:HSBA)

27-Sep

7.4

Legal & General Group (LSE:LGEN)

27-Sep

9.1

Mondi (LSE:MNDI)

27-Sep

4.3

Auto Trader Group (LSE:AUTO)

27-Sep

1.1

Antofagasta (LSE:ANTO)

30-Sep

1.6

Imperial Brands (LSE:IMB)

30-Sep

6.7

Source: interactive investor, SharePad. Data and dividend conversions to sterling from dollars and euros at exchange rate on 4 September 2024.

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