{"id":6716,"date":"2019-09-09T08:49:50","date_gmt":"2019-09-09T07:49:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.qualitycompanyformations.co.uk\/blog\/?p=6716"},"modified":"2025-04-20T12:24:44","modified_gmt":"2025-04-20T11:24:44","slug":"what-are-dividends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.qualitycompanyformations.co.uk\/blog\/what-are-dividends\/","title":{"rendered":"What are dividends?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\r\n Last updated: 20 Apr 2025<\/strong>\r\n <\/div>\r\n \n
Dividends are the vehicle that a company uses to distribute its trading profits to shareholders. They are an important aspect of how shareholders are rewarded for their investment in a company.<\/p>\n
Put simply, if a company makes a profit, it can issue dividends to shareholders. ‘Profit’ is the amount left over after a company has paid its business expenses and tax liabilities. The amount of a dividend must not exceed the amount of profit (after tax) available to cover the payment.<\/p>\n
The directors of a company are responsible for determining the value of company dividends, as well as overseeing payment. However, shareholders themselves have voting rights, and they also approve the payments through their voting rights. There is no obligation on the directors to declare a dividend.<\/p>\n
Dividends can be paid in a number of ways, such as through the additional distribution of stock shares or other property. The most common form that these payments take, however, is still cash.<\/p>\n
Retained earnings and dividend types<\/h2>\n
When a company makes a profit, the majority will often be classed as \u2018retained earnings\u2019. Namely, money that is used to operate the business going forward.<\/p>\n
Commonly, a company will use the remainder of its profit, after retained earnings have been accounted for, to form the basis of its dividend payments. Often a company will use retained earnings to continue to pay them in future years, even if it has not made the necessary profits, in order to keep shareholders happy.<\/p>\n