Here is some information that you may find helpful. No adjustment is made to historical pricing, dividends or earnings data after payment of a cash dividend. This applies to all European markets except Turkey and Italy. Reasons: • Cash dividends do not have a dilutive effect on the number of shares in issue, and have no effect on future earnings potential. • A stock dividend payment, however, would carry an adjustment to historical data, as it represents an increase in the number of shares in issue. CASH DIVIDENDS A cash dividend is a distribution by a corporation to its stockholders on a pro rata (equal) basis. A cash dividend is a pro rata distribution of cash to stockholders. For a cash dividend to occur, a corporation must have: 1 retained earnings 2 adequate cash 3 declared dividends STOCK DIVIDENDS A stock dividend is a pro rata distribution of the corporation’s own stock to stockholders. A stock dividend results in a decrease in retained earnings and an increase in paid-in capital. Corporations usually issue stock dividends for one or more of the following reasons: 1 To satisfy stockholders’ dividend expectations without spending cash. 2 To increase the marketability of its stock by increasing the number of shares outstanding and thereby decreasing the market price per share. 3 To emphasize that a portion of stockholders’ equity has been permanently reinvested in the business and therefore is unavailable for cash dividends.