British American Tobacco PLC Interim Dividend & Quarterly Dividends Timetables (3270D)

TIDMBATS

RNS Number : 3270D

British American Tobacco PLC

26 April 2017

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (the "Company")

PROPOSED INTERIM DIVIDEND TIMETABLE FOR THE YEAR ENDING 31 DECEMBER 2017 AND

INTRODUCTION OF QUARTERLY DIVIDEND PAYMENTS FROM 2018

Proposed dates in respect of the Interim Dividend for the year ending 31 December 2017

With particular reference to the Company's obligations in respect of the secondary listing of its ordinary shares on the JSE, please be advised that the proposed dates in respect of the interim dividend for the year ending 31 December 2017 are currently scheduled as follows:

 
 2017 
 
 Thursday 27 July        Half-Year Report and declaration 
                          of interim dividend: amount 
                          of dividend per ordinary 
                          share in both sterling and 
                          rand; applicable exchange 
                          rate and conversion date 
                          - Tuesday 25 July 2017; plus 
                          additional applicable information 
                          as required in respect of 
                          South Africa Dividends Tax. 
 
 Thursday 27 July to     From the commencement of 
  Friday 18 August        trading on Thursday 27 July 
                          2017 to Friday 18 August 
                          2017 (inclusive), no removal 
                          requests in either direction 
                          between the UK main register 
                          and the South Africa branch 
                          register will be permitted. 
 
 Tuesday 15 August       Last Day to Trade or LDT 
                          (JSE) 
 
 Wednesday 16 August     From the commencement of 
  to Friday 18 August     trading on Wednesday 16 August 
                          2017 to Friday 18 August 
                          2017 (inclusive), no transfers 
                          between the UK main register 
                          and the South Africa branch 
                          register will be permitted; 
                          no shares may be dematerialised 
                          or rematerialised. 
 
 Wednesday 16 August     Ex-dividend date (JSE) 
 
 Thursday 17 August      Ex-dividend date (LSE) 
 
 Friday 18 August        Record date (LSE and JSE) 
 
 Thursday 7 September    Last date for receipt of 
                          Dividend Reinvestment Plan 
                          (DRIP) elections (UK main 
                          register only) 
 
 Thursday 28 September   Payment date (sterling and 
                          rand) 
 

Notes:

(1) For holders of American Depositary Receipts (ADRs)(NYSE MKT symbol BTI), the record date for ADRs is also Friday 18 August 2017 with an ADR payment date of Tuesday 3 October 2017.

(2) Any changes to the dates set out above will be announced. This timetable will be included in the Half-Year Report scheduled for release on Thursday 27 July 2017.

Introduction of Quarterly Dividend Payments from 2018

With effect from 2018, the Company will move to four interim quarterly dividend payments. The dividend amount will be announced as part of the Preliminary Results announcement for the year ending 31 December 2017 in February 2018 and will be paid in four equal instalments in May 2018, August 2018, November 2018 and February 2019. As part of the transition to quarterly dividend payments, and to ensure shareholders receive the equivalent amount of total cash payments in 2018 as they would have under the previous payment policy, an additional interim dividend will be announced in December 2017 for payment in February 2018 and will be calculated as 25% of the total cash dividend paid in 2017. The proposed payment dates, record dates and ex-dividend dates for the dividend payments are set out below.

Quarterly dividends will provide shareholders with a more regular flow of dividend income and will allow the Company to spread its substantial dividend payments more evenly over the year. The dividends will align better with the cash flow generation of the Company and thus enable the Company to fund the payments more efficiently.

The Group's policy to pay dividends of 65% of long-term sustainable earnings, calculated with reference to the adjusted diluted earnings per share, remains unchanged.

Proposed dates for the second interim dividend payment and quarterly dividend payments for the year ending 31 December 2017

 
 Event         Second           Quarterly Dividend Payments 
                Interim 
                dividend 
------------  ----------  -------------------------------------- 
                           Payment   Payment   Payment   Payment 
                            Number    Number    Number    Number 
                            1         2         3         4 
------------  ----------  --------  --------  --------  -------- 
 Ex-dividend   27 Dec      20 Mar    27 Jun    3 Oct     24 Dec 
  date (JSE)    2017        2018      2018      2018      2018 
------------  ----------  --------  --------  --------  -------- 
 Ex-dividend   28 Dec      22 Mar    28 Jun    4 Oct     27 Dec 
  date (LSE)    2017        2018      2018      2018      2018 
------------  ----------  --------  --------  --------  -------- 
 Record        29 Dec      23 Mar    29 Jun    5 Oct     28 Dec 
  date          2017        2018      2018      2018      2018 
------------  ----------  --------  --------  --------  -------- 
 Payment       8 Feb       9 May     9 Aug     15 Nov    7 Feb 
  date          2018        2018      2018      2018      2019 
------------  ----------  --------  --------  --------  -------- 
 

Notes:

(1) The dates set out above are subject to any changes to public holidays arising and changes or revisions to the London Stock Exchange and JSE timetables. Any changes to the dates will be announced.

(2) For the purpose of the Company's secondary listing on the JSE, a full timetable of the salient dates for the second interim dividend will be announced in December 2017 and a full timetable for the quarterly dividend payments will be included in the Preliminary Results Announcement in February 2018.

Name of duly authorised officer of issuer responsible for making notification:

Nicola Snook

Company Secretary

British American Tobacco p.l.c.

26 April 2017

Enquiries:

Investor Relations

Mike Nightingale/Rachael Brierley/Sabina Marshman

[phone]/1519/1781

British American Tobacco Press Office

Anna Vickerstaff

[phone]

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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April 26, 2017 02:01 ET (06:01 GMT)