BP, Shell, Rolls-Royce, HSBC and L&G pay big dividends in June

The first Rolls-Royce Holdings (LSE:RR.) dividend in five years and payments by HSBC Holdings (LSE:HSBA), Shell (LSE:SHEL) and Unilever (LSE:ULVR) are set to make June one of the most lucrative months of the year for FTSE 100 shareholders.

A total of £10.4 billion is due for distribution by 20 companies, with other high-profile names in the dividend calendar including Centrica (LSE:CNA), Glencore (LSE:GLEN), BP (LSE:BP.), BAE Systems (LSE:BA.) and Tesco (LSE:TSCO). The list also features Legal & General Group (LSE:LGEN), which at 8.8% yields the highest dividend income of the month.

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Rolls is the lowest at 0.7% but this matters little given the huge milestone of the 6p a share payment, which is worth a total of £502 million and takes place on 16 June.

The engine giant last paid a dividend in January 2020, when it distributed £92 million via an interim award of 4.6p a share. By the end of that year, Rolls had tapped shareholders for £2 billion by offering heavily discounted shares at a price of 32p.

The shares are now changing hands at a record above 850p, while dividend payments are back thanks to last year’s return of investment grade status on the company’s debt.

Rolls has promised “regular and growing dividends” after targeting payouts of 30-40% of underlying profit after tax. June’s award represents a 30% ratio and has been accompanied by the launch of the first buyback of shares in a decade.

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The biggest dividend award of the month is by Shell, which is handing over £1.6 billion through the payment of 35.8 US cents a share on 23 June. The conversion into sterling is expected to amount to 26.5p, subject to exchange rates on 9 June.

Total shareholder distributions by Shell in 2024 amounted to $23 billion, comprising $9 billion in cash dividends and $14 billion in share buybacks.

The payment for the first quarter is 4% higher than a year ago, although reduced share counts mean the total amount paid by Shell, BP and the rest of the industry fell 2% in the most recent Computershare figures relating to distributions for the first three months of 2025.

BP’s award for 27 June is unchanged on the previous quarter but 10% higher than a year earlier at eight US cents a share, which converts to 5.92p a share depending on 10 June FX rates

The £924 million payment comes with BP dividend yield now up to 6.7%, reflecting the impact of a three-year low for shares on fears over how a Brent crude price now well below $70 a barrel will influence future shareholder distributions.

The company has pledged to grow the dividend by 4% a year, which together with buybacks will result in total shareholder distributions of 30-40% of operating cash flow.

However, City jitters haven’t been helped by first-quarter results showing a miss on net income and a spike in net debt to $27 billion. In contrast, Shell told shareholders recently that its dividend breakeven level is at $40 a barrel.

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The next biggest dividend in June’s calendar is by HSBC, although the figure of £1.3 billion from the payment of 10 US cents or 7.4p a share is much smaller than last summer. This is because last year’s award included a special dividend from the sale of the lender’s Canada business.

Glencore used to be one of the summer’s biggest payers after £2.2 billion was distributed in 2023. Without top-up distributions, this year’s total amounts to £449 million and is based on plans to pay 3.76p a share on 4 June.

Unilever is handing over a quarterly dividend of £953 million on 13 June, which will see shareholders of the consumer goods giant pocket 38.87p a share.

A strong year of market share growth by Tesco means the supermarket is set to pay £626 million on 27 June, in line with its policy of handing over 50% of adjusted earnings per share. The 9.45p a share award increased the total for the financial year by 13.2p to 13.7p a share.

Legal & General is due to pay 15.36p a share on 5 June, in line with its recent record of growing the dividend by 5% a year.

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From the current financial period, the insurer intends to grow the payment by 2% a year as part of a new policy that will see ongoing and incremental buybacks produce shareholder returns in excess of 5% dividend growth.

On the same day, Centrica is due to distribute a dividend of 3p a share worth £146 million. This comes two years after it re-introduced its summer dividend with 2p a share.

The pandemic caused Centrica to scrap June 2020’s £200 million distribution of 3.5p a share, with payments also on hold in the following two years.

Next month’s full-year dividend is still a far cry from the 8.4p a share in June 2019 or the bumper 12.08p a share received in June 2014.

Source: interactive investor, ShareScope. Data correct as at 27 May2025. Dividend converted to sterling from dollars/euros at exchange rates on 27 May 2025. *Includes special dividend.