Dividends

6 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019


	Half year ended 31 Dec 2019				Half year ended 31 Dec 2018				Year ended 30 June 2019
	Per share US cents		Total US$M		Per share US cents		Total US$M		Per share US cents		Total US$M
Dividends paid during the period (1)
Prior year final dividend		78.0		3,946		63.0		3,356		63.0		3,356
Interim dividend		N/A		–		N/A		–		55.0		2,788
Special dividend		N/A		–		N/A		–		102.0		5,158

		78.0		3,946		63.0		3,356		220.0		11,302

(1)	5.5 per cent dividend on 50,000 preference shares of £ 1 each determined and paid annually (31 December 2018: 5.5 per cent; 30 June 2019: 5.5 per cent).

Dividends paid during the period differs from the amount of dividends paid in the Cash Flow Statement as a result of foreign exchange gains and losses relating to the timing of equity distributions between the record date and the payment date.

The Dual Listed Company merger terms require that ordinary shareholders of BHP Group Limited and BHP Group Plc are paid equal cash dividends on a per share basis. Each American Depositary Share (ADS) represents two ordinary shares of BHP Group Limited or BHP Group Plc. Dividends determined on each ADS represent twice the dividend determined on BHP ordinary shares.

Dividends are determined after

period-end

and contained within the announcement of the results for the period. Interim dividends are determined in February and paid in March. Final dividends are determined in August and paid in September. Dividends determined are not recorded as a liability at the end of the period to which they relate. Subsequent to the half year, on

February 2020, BHP Group Limited and BHP Group Plc determined an interim ordinary dividend of 65

US cents per share (US$3,287

million), which will be paid on

March 2020 (31 December 2018: interim dividend of 55.0 US cents per share – US$2,788 million; 30 June 2019: final dividend of 78.0 US cents per share – US$3,946 million).

At 31 December 2019, BHP Group Limited had

2,945

million ordinary shares on issue and held by the public and BHP Group Plc had

2,112

million ordinary shares on issue and held by the public. No shares in BHP Group Limited were held by BHP Group Plc at 31 December 2019 (31 December 2018: nil; 30 June 2019: nil).

BHP Group Limited dividends for all periods presented are, or will be, fully franked based on a tax rate of 30 per cent.