How a cash dividend works: one amount, four dates
Before any figure on this site makes sense, the pieces of a dividend need names: the amount, the declaration, the record or book-closure date, the ex-dividend date and the payment date.
Four dates and one amount
A cash dividend has an amount per share and four dates. The company's board declares it. A record date, or in Pakistan a book-closure period, says whose name must be on the share register to receive it. The ex-dividend date is the first trading day on which a buyer no longer receives that dividend. The payment date is when the money is credited.
The amount is a decision of the company, not a property of the share, and it can change from one announcement to the next. The dates are fixed in the announcement, and the notice is where to read them.
Why the ex-date matters to a buyer
A share bought before the ex-date carries the right to the declared dividend; a share bought on or after it does not. On the ex-date the price is adjusted for the amount the buyer no longer receives, which is why a fall on that day is not the same thing as a fall caused by selling.
The exchange marks the stock. PSX puts XD in front of a company while its shares trade without the right; on the 6 November 2026 reading 5 of the ten (PAKT, EFERT, HUBC, ABL, BAHL) carry it.
Where the money goes
In Pakistan a dividend reaches you through the CDC and the broker or through the company's share registrar, depending on how the shares are held, and PSX lists a 'Credit of ... Cash Dividend' announcement when the company has paid.
Tax is withheld or assessed under the law of the country and the investor's status. This site states no rate, because no rate is among the figures it reads; the broker's statement and the tax authority's notices say what applies.
A way to follow one dividend
Find the declaration — Read the company's announcement for the amount per share, the record or book-closure dates and the payment date.
Note the ex-date — A share bought on or after it does not carry the dividend.
Check the holding on the record date — Your broker's statement should show the shares in your account on that day.
Watch for the credit — The payment arrives on the stated date, or the exchange lists a notice that it was credited.
Compare with the price — Divide the amount by the price: that is the dividend as a share of what a share costs.
Summary
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Questions about dividends
Do I get the dividend if I buy on the ex-date?
No. The ex-date is the first day the share trades without the right to the declared dividend. To receive it, the share has to be bought before that day.
Is the dividend the same every year?
No. Each is a decision of the company's board, announced separately. This site prints no amount that it could not read.
Does the price fall by the dividend?
On the ex-date the price is adjusted for the amount no longer attached to the share. What happens afterwards is the market's.
Ready to open an account?
The account this site links to is a CFD account, not a way to buy PSX shares or receive their dividends. Read the difference first.