Today, 20 April 2026, the “dividend season” opens for Piazza Affari, even if the highlight will, as usual, be in May. As per tradition, Monday is the day designated for the detachment of numerous coupons, including some of the heaviest of the main basket.
Details of the titles
The Bigs of the FTSE MIB:
- Ferrari releases a dividend of 3.615 euros (payment scheduled for May 5)
- UniCredit of 1.7205 euros (balance on total of 3.149 euros, payment on April 22nd)
- Prysmian of 0.90 euros (payment on April 22nd)
- Banca Mediolanum of 0.65 euros (balance on total of 1.25 euros, payment on April 22nd)
- Mediobanca of 0.63 euros (on half-yearly balance sheet, payment on 22 April)
- Banco BPM of 0.54 euros (balance on a total of 1 euro, payment on April 22nd)
- Campari of 0.10 euros (payment on April 22nd).
A separate case is that of Iveco, which is still part of the FTSE MIB but is preparing to exit, with an extraordinary dividend of 5.8216 euros per share linked to the sale of the Business Defense division to Leonardo, an element that places it in a category of its own within the dividend day.
The Mid Caps that pay a dividend are Anima (0.5 euros) and Maire (0.585 euros). The STARs are Fine Foods & Pharmaceuticals (0.16 euros) and Generalfinance (1.36 euros).
What is coupon detachment and when does it happen?
Coupons represent the proceeds of stocks and bonds. Specifically, for shares, they represent the share of profits that the company’s directors decide to distribute to shareholders in the form of a dividend, which is proposed by the Board of Directors and approved by the Shareholders’ Meeting.
The coupon, in simple terms, is a right to receive something immaterially “attached” to one’s share, until this coupon is detached (this is why it is said that the share pays ex coupon). Following ex-dividend, shareholders will be liquidated (paid) the dividend, approximately three days after ex-dividend. For shares it is also possible that the directors decide to distribute coupons not deriving from profits from ordinary activity but from other accounting items (cash, reserves, etc.): in this case we speak of extraordinary coupons (or dividends).
The impact of the ex-dividend date
The dividend is not an “extra” profit that rains from the sky on the ex-dividend day, but it is a cash outflow from the company’s assets. When a company detaches a coupon, its asset value decreases by exactly the amount distributed.
On days of “mass shutdowns” (the typical May or October days in Piazza Affari), it is common to see the FTSE MIB index score a heavy negative performance at the opening. This is because the main index is a price index: it does not take into account the reinvestment of dividends. Therefore, if many blue chips detach the coupon at the same time, the index will fall proportionally, giving the impression of a selling session which in reality is just a technical effect of the detachment.
