There may be some ASX dividend shares that could provide reliability, even during times of difficult economic times.
Food is one of those industries that may see pretty consistent demand, no matter what circumstances are happening in the world.
Here are two ASX dividend shares to consider:
Rural Funds Group (ASX: RFF)
Rural Funds is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns a variety of different farm types including cattle, vineyards, almonds, macadamias and cropping (sugar and cotton).
It has contracts with a number of high-quality, reliable tenants such as Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE), Select Harvests Limited (ASX: SHV), Olam, JBS and Australian Agricultural Company Ltd (ASX: AAC).
Rental growth is built into the contracts with the tenants. Most of the growth is either a fixed increase, or linked to CPI inflation, with some contracts having market reviews.
It's this contracted rental income which is a large enabler of the distribution growth from the business. Management have a goal of increasing the distribution by 4% per annum. It has successfully done this over the last several years.
In FY22 it's expecting to increase the distribution by another 4% to 11.73 cents per annum. That translates to a distribution yield of 4.4% for FY22.
The ASX dividend share is also investing in its farms to improve the productivity of them, which aims to increase the rental potential as well as the value.
Inghams Group Ltd (ASX: ING)
Inghams was founded in 1918. It's the largest Australian poultry business and it has entered into the production of turkey and stockfeed. The business has also enhanced its processing capabilities to cater to changing consumer preferences towards value-enhanced poultry products.
In FY21 the business produced 446.9kt of core poultry volume, an increase of 4.2% on FY20.
Inghams is focused on optimising its core business, which is a program of continuous improvement, which is delivering strong outcomes, driving lower costs, enhancing yield and reducing waste. With this program, Inghams achieved better asset efficiency and return with "modest" capital expenditure. In FY21 it carried out around 200 improvement projects. It's planning to work on 320 improvement projects in FY22.
In pre-AASB 16 terms, underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 16.6% to $209.6 million, whilst underlying net profit after tax (NPAT) grew 28.4% to $101.2 million.
The ASX dividend share increased its dividend by 17.9% to 16.5 cents per share. That translates to a grossed-up dividend yield of almost 6%.
In FY22, it's expecting a consumer recovery as vaccination rates increases and lockdowns are lifted. Volumes are expected to show continued growth with new business across various channels. It's expecting continuing meaningful benefits when it comes to operational efficiencies across the business.
It's currently rated as a buy by Citi.
