When will the company pay a dividend?
If and when the company decides to pay a dividend, shareholders will be notified (usually at the same time we send a copy of the account and notice of AGM). This notice will also detail how and when the dividend is to be paid.
Ultimately, imutual is owned and controlled by its members, and the directors will form a dividend policy in consultation with shareholders. The current policy of the directors is as follows:
imutual already returns most of its revenue to its shareholders, in the form of cashback. Because your cashback is not taxable (generally-speaking and subject to changes in UK legislation), this is a much better way of rewarding shareholders than paying dividends out of company profits - (on which the company would pay corporation tax and individual shareholders may subject to income tax).
As a result, the company does not have any plans to pay dividends. With any surplus the company does make (after paying cashback), its first priority is to cover essential running costs (wages, technical infrastructure, banking, legal and accounting costs etc.). It must retain some funds to prepare for any unforeseen circumstances and to ensure the financial stability of the company, and it must also invest in new developments so that the company can grow, prosper and increase in value.
We expect that the most likely financial gain from holding shares will come from a sale of the company rather than payment of dividends. Based on current UK tax policy, this form of gain (i.e. capital gain from sale of shares) is, for most individuals, likely to attract less tax than receiving dividend income.