Four FTSE 100 stocks responsible for £6bn March dividend

The old economy powerhouses of BP (LSE:BP.), Shell (LSE:SHEL), AstraZeneca (LSE:AZN) and Unilever (LSE:ULVR) will deliver for shareholders in March when they hand over £6.2 billion in dividend payments.

The quartet account for the bulk of the £7 billion due for distribution by nine FTSE 100 index stocks, starting later than usual on 17 March with £210 million from Anglo American (LSE:AAL).

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The calendar also includes the 6.9% yielding Imperial Brands (LSE:IMB), which has set aside £450 million for 31 March, and the smaller Pershing Square Holdings Ord (LSE:PSH), easyJet (LSE:EZJ) and Alliance Witan Ord (LSE:ALW).

The biggest dividend outlay of the month is by AstraZeneca (LSE:AZN), whose 24 March distribution worth £2.6 billion relates to the $2.10 a share or 168p declared with annual results.

This increased the total for 2024 to $3.10 or 245.6p a share, with more to come in the current financial year after Astra signalled a further increase to $3.20 a share in 2025.

The largest stock in the FTSE 100 index, Astra recently marked the 25th anniversary of its creation out of the merger of Astra and former ICI pharmaceuticals business Zeneca. In 2004, the total dividend amounted to 50.3p a share.

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Shell, which is now behind HSBC Holdings (LSE:HSBA) as the third-largest company in the FTSE 100 index, is due to pay £1.7 billion on the same day as the drugs giant. Its shares yield dividend income of 4%, compared with 2.1% for AstraZeneca.

The sterling and euro equivalents of Shell’s 35.8 US cents a share distribution will be declared on 10 March, with the current dollar exchange rate pointing to about 28.23p a share.

That compares with 27.10p last year and the third quarter’s 27.16p after Shell chief executive Wael Sawan announced a 4% increase with annual results at the end of January. He also stretched Shell’s record of $3 billion or more of buybacks to a 13th quarter.

More details on the outlook for shareholder returns are likely to emerge at a capital markets day on 25 March, when Sawan has pledged to outline the next steps in the company’s strategy “to deliver more value with less emissions”.

BP (LSE:BP.) outlined its dividend intentions earlier this week, when it also told investors it would push back on green energy commitments in order to drive cash flows from oil and gas production.

It promised a “resilient” dividend by growing the ordinary payout at least 4% a year.

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This compares with 10% increases across the previous two financial years, which have left the payment due for distribution on 28 March at eight US cents a share or a total of £989 million.

Shareholders should receive approximately 6.31p a share, which is up from 5.73p a share a year ago. The date for the announcement of the sterling dividend conversion is 17 March.

Amid a challenging year for the share price, BP trades with a dividend yield of 5.6%.

The Unilever (LSE:ULVR) fourth-quarter dividend of about 37.75p a share is also due to be paid on 28 March, having been increased by 6.1% on a year earlier. Across 2024, the consumer goods giant returned a total of 5.8 billion euros (£4.8 billion) through buybacks and dividends, including the fourth-quarter award worth £933 million.

Imperial Brands, a leading income stock, is due to pay 54.26p a share as the final part of a 4.5% increase in the total dividend for 2024 to 153.43p. It made payments of 22.45p in July and September, with a third installment of 54.26p in December.

Together with buybacks, it is on track to deliver five-year capital returns of about £10 billion, representing 67% of the market capitalisation when it launched the strategy in January 2021.

It intends to present the next phase at a capital markets day on 26 March.

Boosted by strong cash generation, the company has already said that it plans to increase shareholder returns to £2.8 billion in the 2025 financial year.

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This includes dividends of £1.5 billion, which will now be payable in four equal installments as Imperial targets more consistent cash returns to shareholders throughout the year.

During the transitional period, this will mean increased dividend payments of 40.08p a share in June and September of this year..

Among the other companies paying dividends in the month, easyJet has set aside £91 million for a final dividend of 12.1p a share on 21 March. This is a big jump from 4.5p a share the year before and represents 20% of headline profit after tax.

Pershing Square is paying £24 million through a quarterly dividend of 16.46 US cents (12.98p) a share on 21 March, while investment trust Alliance Witan is distributing 6.73p a share worth £27 million on 31 March.

It has increased its dividend for 58 consecutive years, a record recognised by the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) through its Dividend Hero investment company award.

Source: interactive investor, ShareScope. Data and dividend conversions to sterling from dollars at exchange rate on 27 February 2025.