Guides / Ex-dividend date: what it means and how it works for UK shares
Ex-dividend date: what it means and how it works for UK shares
The ex-dividend date (or ex-date) is the first day a share trades without the right to the next dividend. To be paid you need to buy before that day, so a purchase on the ex-date or later does not qualify for that payment.
Short answer: the ex-date is a cut-off for who gets paid. Buy before it and the coming dividend is yours. Buy on it or after it and the seller keeps that payment, even if they no longer hold the shares on payment day. This page sticks to that one date. The dividends guide covers what dividends are and why companies pay them.
The four dates in order: declaration, ex-dividend, record, payment
A UK dividend runs on four dates, always in this order:
- Declaration (announcement) date: the company publishes the dividend, its amount and its timetable.
- Ex-dividend date: the first day the shares trade without the right to that dividend.
- Record date: the day the company uses its register of shareholders to decide who gets paid.
- Payment date: the day the money is paid out.
The London Stock Exchange's Dividend Procedure Timetable says the record date should normally be a Friday. Under today's standard settlement of T+2, the ex-date falls one business day earlier, so ex-dates normally fall on a Thursday. The Exchange also asks companies to aim to pay a plain cash dividend within 30 business days of the record date.
A worked example with made-up dates
These dates are invented and the company is fictional. They follow the London Stock Exchange's standard pattern.
- Declaration date: Thursday 19 February
- Ex-dividend date: Thursday 5 March
- Record date: Friday 6 March
- Payment date: Friday 10 April
Now four buyers:
- Buys on Tuesday 3 March: the trade settles on Thursday 5 March, before the record date. Paid.
- Buys on Wednesday 4 March: the trade settles on Friday 6 March, the record date itself, so the buyer is on the register. Paid.
- Buys on Thursday 5 March (the ex-date): the trade settles on Monday 9 March, after the record date. Not paid. The seller receives this dividend.
- Sells on Thursday 5 March: still on the register on the record date, so still paid on 10 April.
One business day decides the outcome, which is why the ex-date matters more to a buyer than the record date.
Why the ex-date comes before the record date in the UK
It comes down to settlement. A share purchase is not registered in your name at the moment you buy. The trade has to settle first, and on the London market that currently takes two business days (T+2). Only a settled trade puts you on the company's register.
The Exchange sets the ex-date so that anyone buying on or after it cannot be settled onto the register by the record date. That is why, under T+2, the ex-date sits one business day before the record date.
This gap is due to change. The FCA confirms the UK moves to T+1 settlement on 11 October 2027. The London Stock Exchange's 2027 timetable says that from then the ex-dividend date and the record date will fall on the same business day. Shares will not be marked ex-dividend between 4 and 18 October 2027 while the market switches over, and the first ex-date on the new basis will be 22 October 2027. The rule stays the same: buy before the ex-date to qualify.
Questions people ask: buying on the ex-date, two days before, start or end of the day
Buying on the ex-date. You will not get that dividend. The ex-date is the first day without entitlement, so a purchase that day is too late.
Buying two days before. You qualify. Under T+2, a normal trade on any business day before the ex-date, including the day immediately before it, settles by the record date. Two days before is comfortably inside that window. Count business days, not calendar days, because weekends and bank holidays do not count.
Start or end of the day. Treat it as the start. The whole trading day counts as ex, so a trade made at the opening and a trade made just before the close are treated the same way.
What usually happens to the share price on the ex-date, and why it is not a forecast
As a general mechanism, a share's price is expected to adjust on the ex-date, because from that morning the shares no longer carry the payment that has just been declared. This page gives no figure for that adjustment. On any given day, results, wider market moves and company news can easily outweigh it.
So an ex-date fall in the price says nothing on its own about the business, and the ex-date tells you nothing about where the price goes next.
Where to find the ex-dividend date in a company's own announcement
The company's own announcement is the source to trust. The London Stock Exchange's rules say:
- Dividends go out through a regulated news service, either in an interim or final results announcement or under the headline category "Dividend Declaration".
- The details must be in the body of the announcement itself, not just behind a web link.
- The announcement must include the dividend amount and currency, the type (interim or final), the record date, the payment date, and whether a scrip or dividend reinvestment option is offered, with its election date.
In practice, look for a short dividend timetable, often near the end of a results statement, listing the ex-dividend date, record date and payment date together. The record date and payment date are always required. If only those two appear, today's standard pattern puts the ex-date one business day before the record date. Many companies repeat the timetable on the dividends page of their investor relations site.
For walk-throughs of real announcements, see the Lloyds dividend dates guide and how to read Taylor Wimpey's dividend announcements.
Common misreadings of the ex-date
- Treating the record date as the cut-off for buyers. For anyone buying, the ex-date is the date that decides entitlement.
- Confusing it with the payment date. The money arrives later, often weeks after the record date.
- Confusing it with the announcement date. The dividend is declared earlier. The ex-date is set out in that announcement.
- Counting calendar days. Settlement runs on business days, so a weekend or bank holiday changes the count.
- Reading the ex-date price move as a verdict on the company. It reflects the dividend leaving the shares.
- Assuming the gap is permanent. From 11 October 2027 the ex-date and record date fall on the same day.
If you take dividends as extra shares through a reinvestment plan, entitlement still turns on the ex-date. The DRIP guide explains how reinvestment works. For tax, see GOV.UK's tax on dividends page. This page does not cover tax rules.
How MarketFrame's company pages help you find the news around a dividend
MarketFrame reads the UK business news on every FTSE 100 company each morning and publishes it free. Each company and each of 17 sectors has a day-by-day history, with a tone score from −10 (clearly bad news for the company) to +10 (clearly good), and the archive starts on 30 September 2026.
When a results statement with a dividend timetable comes out, a company page such as Lloyds Banking Group shows the coverage around it, with a link to each publisher. The daily hub is at FTSE news. News tone is not a share-price forecast, and it does not tell you what to do. The dates themselves always come from the company's announcement.
Questions
Can I get the dividend if I buy on the ex-dividend date?
No. A purchase on the ex-date settles after the record date, so the seller keeps that dividend.
Will I get the dividend if I buy two days before the ex-dividend date?
Yes. Under T+2, a normal trade on any business day before the ex-date settles in time for the record date.
Is the ex-dividend date the start or end of the day?
The start. Every trade made on the ex-date, at any time, is ex-dividend.
What is the difference between the ex-dividend date and the record date?
The ex-date is the first day the shares trade without the dividend. The record date is when the register is checked. Today they are one business day apart. From 11 October 2027 they fall on the same day.
Where do I find a company's ex-dividend date?
In the company's results or 'Dividend Declaration' announcement, or on its investor relations dividends page.
Questions people ask
Can I get the dividend if I buy on the ex-dividend date?
No. The ex-date is the first day the shares trade without the dividend. Under the UK's T+2 settlement, a purchase made that day settles after the record date, so the seller keeps that payment.
Will I get the dividend if I buy two days before the ex-dividend date?
Yes, as long as it is a normal trade made on a business day before the ex-date. Under T+2, even a purchase on the last business day before the ex-date settles by the record date. Check the ex-date in the company's own announcement.
Is the ex-dividend date the start or end of the day?
Treat it as starting when trading opens. Every trade made on the ex-date, at any time of day, settles too late for the record date, so it does not carry that dividend.
What is the difference between the ex-dividend date and the record date?
The ex-date is the first day the shares trade without the dividend. The record date is the day the company uses its register to decide who gets paid. Under current T+2 settlement the ex-date falls one business day before the record date. From 11 October 2027, when the UK moves to T+1, the two fall on the same day.
Where do I find a company's ex-dividend date?
Look in the company's own results or 'Dividend Declaration' announcement, or on its investor relations site. The London Stock Exchange requires the announcement itself to state the record date and payment date, and most announcements set out the full timetable including the ex-date.