BHP dividend declaration - big increase

[mike]

BHP Group are headquartered in Australia, and with Melbourne being 9 hours ahead of London, the full year results have been issued down under.

The Australian ASX announcement is here https://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20190820/pdf/447m90dmvkvltt.pdf
Dividend information on page 13

Amount :                   USD 0.78 (up from 0.63 last year)
Ex-dividend:               5 September
Conversion into sterling:  9 September
Payment date:              25 September

The dividend policy provides for a minimum 50 per cent payout of Underlying attributable profit at every reporting period. The minimum dividend payment for the June 2019 half year period is 53 US cents per share, or US$2.7billion.
The Board has determined to pay an additional amount of 25 US cents per share or US$1.3billion, taking the final dividend to a record 78 US cents per share. This is equivalent to a 73 per cent payout ratio (2018:69percent)

I had pencilled in 60¢ as my conservative projection, although BHP is not easy to forecast. The total for the year of 55+78¢ = 133¢, nicely above the 123¢ forecast by DigitalLook



[DL Forecast was 181p for the year. Subtract the January special of 79.5 = 101.5p as the normal annual dividend, which is about 123¢]

[idpickering]

Thank you Mike. I hold these alongside Rio Tinto in my HYP. Both are fully weighted in capital value terms, and I'm unlikely to top up either, although the Greene King dosh has to go somewhere lol. I've taken the liberty to put the results over on the company reports board too.

Ian.

[tjh290633]

A bit more information:

https://www.investegate.co.uk/bhp-group ... 00015568J/

Our Board today determined to pay a final dividend of 78 US cents per share. The final dividend to be paid by BHP Group Limited will be fully franked for Australian taxation purposes.

BHP's Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRP) will operate in respect of the final dividend. Full terms and conditions of the DRP and details about how to participate can be found at: bhp.com

Events in respect of the final dividend                                                             Date       
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  ----------------- 
Currency conversion into RAND                                                                   30 August 2019 
Last day to trade cum dividend on Johannesburg Stock Exchange Limited (JSE)                   3 September 2019 
Ex-dividend Date JSE                                                                          4 September 2019 
Ex-dividend Date Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), London Stock Exchange (LSE) and New    5 September 2019 
 York Stock Exchange (NYSE)                                                                                    
Record Date                                                                                   6 September 2019 
DRP and Currency Election date (including announcement of currency conversion for ASX and                      
 LSE)                                                                                         9 September 2019 
Payment Date                                                                                 25 September 2019 
DRP Allocation Date (ASX and LSE) within 10 business days after the payment date                9 October 2019 
DRP Allocation Date (JSE), subject to the purchase of shares by the Transfer Secretaries in     9 October 2019 
 the open market Central Securities Depository Participant (CDSP) accounts credited/updated                    
 on or about

TJH