On 28 February 2019, British American Tobacco p.l.c. (LON:BATS) announced that the Board had declared an interim dividend of 203.0p per ordinary share of 25p, payable in four equal quarterly instalments of 50.75p per ordinary share in May 2019, August 2019, November 2019 and February 2020.
The May 2019 Dividend will be payable to shareholders registered on the UK main register and the South Africa branch register on 22 March 2019 (the record date). Due to a recently announced public holiday in South Africa on 8 May 2019, the May 2019 Dividend will be paid on 8 May 2019 to shareholders registered on the UK main register and on 9 May 2019 to shareholders registered on the South Africa branch register.
In accordance with the JSE Limited Listing Requirements, the finalisation information for the May 2019 Dividend relating to shareholders registered on the South Africa branch register is set out in the paragraphs below.
The salient dates and other dividend declaration information announced on 28 February 2019 remain unchanged, apart from the payment date for the May 2019 Dividend for shareholders registered on the South Africa branch register, which is now 9 May 2019.
South Africa Branch Register: Dividend Rate
The British American Tobacco Group reports in sterling, therefore dividends are declared and payable in sterling except for shareholders on the branch register in South Africa whose dividends are payable in rand. A rate of exchange of £:R = 19.04020 as at 7 March 2019 (the closing rate on that date as quoted by Bloomberg), results in an equivalent May 2019 Dividend of 966.29015 SA cents per ordinary share.
South Africa Branch Register: Dividends Tax Information
South Africa Dividends Tax (at a rate of 20%), equivalent to 193.25803 SA cents per ordinary share, will be withheld from the gross May 2019 Dividend paid to shareholders on the South Africa branch register, unless a shareholder qualifies for an exemption. After Dividends Tax has been withheld, the net dividend will be 773.03212 SA cents per ordinary share. The May 2019 Dividend is regarded as a ‘foreign dividend’ for the purposes of the South Africa Dividends Tax. For the purposes of South Africa Dividends Tax reporting, the source of income for the payment of the May 2019 Dividend is the United Kingdom.
At the close of business on 7 March 2019 (the latest practicable date prior to the date of the declaration of the South African rand equivalent of the May 2019 Dividend), the Company had a total of 2,293,770,950 ordinary shares in issue (excluding treasury shares). British American Tobacco p.l.c. held 162,645,590 ordinary shares in treasury giving a total issued share capital of 2,456,416,540 ordinary shares.
