"Announcing" a dividend and "declaring" a dividend are the same thing; both need to be signed off by the Board.
The only reason Boards formally "declare" dividends in conjunction with publication of financial results is due to internal timing considerations, notably, for convenience, at the same meeting at which they sign off on the audited accounts.
But directors would already have the updated management accounts included with the Board papers circulated to them well before the meeting to sign off on the financial results, so they would already have had full visibility into the basis for any dividend to be declared long beforehand.
So there is nothing at all untoward about a dividend being announced/declared prior to the released of financial results.
Heck, that's what happens when companies pay dividends quarterly basis.
Moreover, I am a shareholder in a company that at one stage of its existence announced/declared dividends monthly.
.
DDR Price at posting:
$8.50 Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held
A personalised tool to help users track selected stocks. Delivering real-time notifications on price updates, announcements, and performance stats on each to help make informed investment decisions.
(20min delay)