Monster payday for shareholders in September
A surge in dividend payments over the next month provides retail investors with a tidy autumn income boost. Graeme Evans also explains wider market implications.
27th August 2026 13:21
by Graeme Evans from interactive investor
A £16.7 billion dividend bonanza will showcase the income power of the FTSE 100 index when 41 companies including BP (LSE:BP.), NatWest Group (LSE:NWG) and Glencore (LSE:GLEN) make payments to shareholders in September.
The heavyweight sectors of banking, mining and oil and gas account for almost two-thirds of the haul, led by £1.9 billion from Rio Tinto Ordinary Shares (LSE:RIO) and the quarterly award of Shell (LSE:SHEL) worth £1.5 billion.
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With all three of these industries reaping the benefit of favourable conditions, the overall FTSE 100 dividend amount has jumped by over £2 billion from the £14.5 billion of the previous two Septembers.
The surge provides retail investors with a tidy autumn income boost while it will also have wider market implications as a large chunk of the proceeds will be re-invested.
The dividend line-up includes 17 out of the most 20 valuable companies in the FTSE 100 index, including the eight leading stocks by market capitalisation.
The biggest, with a price tag of £260 billion is HSBC Holdings (LSE:HSBA), which is due to distribute about £1.25 billion through the payment of 10 US cents a share on 25 September. The official sterling conversion will be based on the US exchange rate of 14 September.
HSBC ranked as the UK market’s biggest contributor of income in 2025 after it raised its end-of-year dividend by 25%.
Payments by the other four major lenders in the FTSE 100 will mean the sector hands over £4.25 billion in September, boosted by higher-for-longer interest rates, current low loan losses and stronger balance sheets.
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The next biggest is 4.7% yielding NatWest, which is due to distribute £953 million via the 18 September payment of 12p a share. The award is 26% more than last year after the lender beat the City’s second-quarter profit hopes by 10% in July’s interim results.
Barclays (LSE:BARC) and Lloyds Banking Group (LSE:LLOY) are in the diary for 15 September, with their distributions worth £793 million and £915 million respectively.
The 5.9p a share due from Barclays has jumped 97% after it pledged to hand over £2 billion in 2026, while the Lloyds award of 1.58p is a 30% rebasing versus last summer’s payment.
Standard Chartered (LSE:STAN) completes the sector’s bumper haul when it pays £330 million on 29 September, having increased its interim dividend by 66% to 20.4 US cents (15.01p).
Mining is the next most lucrative sector in September’s calendar, with Glencore and Rio Tinto accounting for 90% of the £3.8 billion figure and Anglo American (LSE:AAL) and Antofagasta (LSE:ANTO) the rest.
This reflects the impact of higher prices for copper, silver and gold, which have helped to fund a significant recovery from last year’s cyclical low for shareholder payments.
The conditions have helped Glencore to double the value of its shareholder distribution planned for 18 September. Alongside the 8.5 US cents previously announced with February’s results, Glencore said in half-year figures that it planned a special cash award of the same value.
The $1 billion ($740 million) top-up distribution has been made possible by a reduction in net debt towards a through-the-cycle cap of $10 billion. The payments will be made on 18 September.
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The Rio Tinto payment, which is due on 24 September, follows a 43% uplift in its dividend to 211 US cents (158.7p) a share.
The payout is consistent with Rio’s established practice of paying 50% of half-year underlying earnings per share, which in July’s results rose 42% to 421.4 US cents.
The results showed that more than half of earnings came from copper, aluminium and lithium as Rio builds exposure to trends such as energy demand for electrification and AI. Earnings also benefited from a fall in Rio’s effective tax rate to 25.2% from 34.5% the year before.
The energy sector will account for £2.6 billion of September’s dividend haul, including £984 million from BP after it lifted 18 September’s second-quarter award by 4% to 8.66 US cents.
The increase followed a 74% jump in operating cash flow to $10.9 billion as BP benefited from much higher oil and gas prices and recent actions to boost its operational performance. The sterling conversion is set to be about 6.37p, depending on the 8 September exchange rate.
Shell pays its second-quarter dividend on 21 September, which at 39.06 US cents a share is up 9% on a year earlier. UK shareholders can expect about 28.75p a share, with the exact figure determined on 7 September.
Other big payers include AstraZeneca (LSE:AZN), which is due to distribute £1.2 billion through 79.5p a share on 8 September, and Unilever (LSE:ULVR) after it declared a quarterly dividend worth £862 million.
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The Dove and Sunsilk brand owner will distribute 46.64 euro cents a share on 18 September, which is equivalent to 40p a share and 3% more than a year earlier.
The highest-yielding stock in the calendar is Legal & General Group (LSE:LGEN), which is due to pay an interim dividend of 6.24p a share on 25 September.
The 7.5% yielding shares recently topped 300p for the first time in more than four years as confidence builds in the company’s ability to grow the dividend at its target 2% pace.
The 6.3% yielding Imperial Brands (LSE:IMB) is also due to pay a second-quarter dividend of 41.68p a share on 30 September.
Other highlights include Rolls-Royce Holdings (LSE:RR.), which has lifted its dividend by 33% after publishing another set of beat-and-raise results. The 6p award is due on 18 September, with City firm Berenberg recently forecasting a total of 14.61p a share for the full year.
Source: interactive investor, ShareScope. Data and currency conversions correct on 27 August 2026.
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