Back-dated dividends: court clarifies timing of actual distribution

In Manolete Partners plc v Rutter and Rutter [2022] EWHC 2552 (Ch), the High Court held that a dividend that had been ‘backdated’ to July 2015 was, in fact, a lawful distribution under the Companies Act 2006 that had been made in July 2016 – the date that the directors had declared the dividend. 

The case provides a useful reminder of the importance of carefully documenting any decisions relating to the declaration and subsequent payment of dividends.

Facts