Dividends from retained profit of previous year

[malev]

Brief question about the board minutes for dividends taken from retained profit (i.e. the previous financial year)...

My standard template says "a dividend of £xx per Ordinary Share in respect of the year ending [year end date] be paid forthwith to those shareholders registered on [date of board meeting]."

If I take the dividend from the retained profits, should the [year end date] be the previous year during which the profits were earned, or should it be the current financial year during which they are being paid?

Cheers!

[XLMonkey]

The company financial year in which the dividend is paid. Doesn't matter whether the profits are carried forward from the last year, or taken from operating profits in this year.

[malev]

Thanks for that!