Final dividend
The payment for a completed year, approved by the annual meeting, as opposed to interim payments made during the year.
How to read the number
It is a closing figure: amounts already paid for periods of the year are deducted from it, so the declared sum and the total paid for the year are two different numbers.
When the metric lies
Comparing one company's final dividend with another's full-year total distorts the picture; only like periods can be set against each other.
Also known as: final dividend