Dividends

The Company's dividend policy links growth in profit with growth in dividends and, at the same time, seeks to ensure that sufficient funds are available to the Group for investment in future profitable growth.
Ordinary Dividends
Dividend Value Of (£) Record Date Ex-DivPayment Date
ADR Dividends
Dividend Value Of ($) Record Date Payment Date
Ordinary Dividends
Dividend Value Of (£) Record Date Ex-DivPayment Date
2007 2nd Interim 5.00p Dec 19 2007 Dec 17 2007 Jan 15 2008
2007 1st Interim 4.95p Aug 24 2007 Aug 22 2007 Oct 5 2007
2006 2nd Interim 4.75p Mar 2 2007 Feb 28 2007 Apr 13 2007
ADR Dividends
Dividend Value Of ($) Record Date Payment Date
2006 2nd Interim 0.3505380 Mar 2 2007 Apr 20 2007
Ordinary Dividends
Dividend Value Of (£) Record Date Ex-DivPayment Date
2006 1st Interim 4.15p Aug 25 2006 Aug 23 2006 Oct 6 2006
2005 2nd Interim 3.95p Mar 3 2006 2006-03-01 Apr 14 2006
ADR Dividends
Dividend Value Of ($) Record Date Payment Date
2006 1st Interim 0.2876146 Aug 25 2006 Oct 16 2006
2005 2nd Interim 0.2795178 Mar 3 2006 Apr 21 2006
Ordinary Dividends
Dividend Value Of (£) Record Date Ex-DivPayment Date
2005 1st Interim 3.75p Aug 26 2005 2005-08-24 Oct 7 2005
2004 2nd Interim 3.90p Mar 4 2005 2005-03-02 Apr 15 2005
ADR Dividends
Dividend Value Of ($) Record Date Payment Date
2005 1st Interim 0.2615550 Aug 25 2005 Oct 13 2005
2004 2nd Interim 0.2978976 Apr 15 2005 Apr 22 2005
Ordinary Dividends
Dividend Value Of (£) Record Date Ex-DivPayment Date
2004 1st Interim 3.40p Aug 20 2004 2004-08-18 Oct 1 2004
2003 2nd Interim 3.50p Mar 5 2004 2004-03-03 Apr 16 2004
ADR Dividends
Dividend Value Of ($) Record Date Payment Date
2004 1st Interim 0.2423248 Aug 20 2004 Oct 8 2004
2003 2nd Interim 0.24871 Mar 5 2004 Apr 23 2004
Ordinary Dividends
Dividend Value Of (£) Record Date Ex-DivPayment Date
2003 1st Interim 2.75p Aug 22 2003 2003-08-20 Oct 3 2003
2002 2nd Interim 4.50p Mar 7 2003 2003-03-05 Apr 22 2003
ADR Dividends
Dividend Value Of ($) Record Date Payment Date
2003 1st Interim 0.18262 Aug 22 2003 Oct 10 2003
2002 2nd Interim 0.28110 Mar 7 2003 Apr 29 2003
Ordinary Dividends
Dividend Value Of (£) Record Date Ex-DivPayment Date
2002 1st interim 3.00p Aug 23 2002 2002-08-21 Oct 4 2002
2001 2nd Interim 9.75p Mar 8 2002 2006-03-06 Apr 23 2002
2001 1st Interim 6.25p Aug 17 2001 2001-08-15 Oct 4 2001
2000 2nd Interim 19.50p Mar 9 2001 2001-03-07 Apr 25 2001
2000 1st Interim 12.50p Aug 18 2000 2000-08-14 Oct 4 2000
1999 2nd Interim 19.50p Mar 10 2000 2000-03-06 Apr 28 2000
1999 1st Interim 12.50p Aug 20 1999 1999-08-16 Oct 4 1999
1998 2nd Interim 19.50p Mar 5 1999 1999-03-01 Apr 19 1999
1998 1st Interim 12.50p Aug 21 1998 1998-08-17 Oct 5 1998
ADR Dividends
Dividend Value Of ($) Record Date Payment Date
2002 1st interim 0.18771 Aug 23 2002 Oct 11 2002
2001 2nd Interim 0.5641 Mar 8 2002 Apr 30 2002
2001 1st Interim 0.3675 Aug 17 2001 Oct 12 2001
2000 2nd Interim 1.1168 Mar 9 2001 May 2 2001
2000 1st Interim 0.7264 Aug 18 2000 Oct 12 2000
1999 2nd Interim 1.2273 Mar 10 2000 May 2 2000
1999 1st Interim 0.8252 Aug 20 1999 Oct 12 1999
1998 2nd Interim 1.2496 Mar 5 1999 Apr 26 1999
1998 1st Interim 0.8432 Aug 21 1998 Oct 13 1998