Dividends are paid from net profit and are not a company obligation: even a profitable company may direct funds toward development instead of distribution. The decision is made by the general meeting of shareholders and may differ from the supervisory board's recommendation.
The payment procedure is determined by several dates. The company announces the dividend per share, sets the date for fixing the list of recipients, and establishes the payment deadline. The right to payment belongs to whoever owned the security on the fixing date, not to whoever holds it at the time of payment.
Preferred shares typically have a fixed dividend or a set minimum, paid on a priority basis. Common shares have their dividend amount determined annually and may be zero.
Practical note: immediately after the fixing date, share price typically declines by approximately the payment amount—this is the dividend gap, not a market fall. Therefore, buying a security shortly before the cutoff to receive the next payment creates no additional income: the received dividend is offset by the decline in position value.