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A certain group of ASX dividend shares have built a reputation for providing defensive income and growing yields for investors.
Just because a business pays a dividend doesn't automatically mean that the payment will be consistent and reliable every single year.
For example, there were quite a few dividend cuts in the COVID-affected 2020 calendar year, including from Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) and Sydney Airport (ASX: SYD).
But these two ASX dividend shares have been providing steady and growing income for a number of years:
Rural Funds Group (ASX: RFF)
Rural Funds is a leading real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns a portfolio of high-quality farming assets across Australia in different states and climactic conditions.
Its portfolio is spread across a number of different farming industries including almonds, vineyards, macadamias, cropping (sugar and cotton) and cattle.
Rural Funds has a goal of increasing its distribution by 4% every year for investors. It has been successful with this target every year since it listed.
The business funds its distribution growth organically in two different ways. First, it has income increases built into its contracts across the portfolio. Some of that indexation is a fixed 2.5% annual increase, whilst other contracts are linked to CPI inflation, with some of them having periodic reviews.
This ASX dividend share's other organic way to boost its rental profit is its ability to invest in its farms with productivity improvements in things like water access points.
Rural Funds can also grow its rental profit and portfolio by making occasional acquisitions that can be improved, or put to a higher and better use.
In FY22, Rural Funds has guided another 4% increase of the distribution per unit, with a total payment of 11.73 cents per unit. That translates to a distribution yield of 4%.
Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW)
Brickworks is a leading business in the building products industry. But it's actually other assets that continue to help maintain and grow the Brickworks dividend.
This business may have a claim to being one of the ASX dividend shares with the longest claim of reliability. Brickworks has grown or maintained its dividend every year for over 40 years.
The biggest contributor to the dividend over that time has been its shareholding of Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL) shares, where it is a substantial shareholder.
Soul Patts has a diversified portfolio of assets across a variety of industries including telecommunications, resources, property and agriculture. Some of its biggest investments are TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPG), New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX: NHC) and Brickworks itself.
Brickworks says that Soul Patts provides growing dividends and consistent earnings for the company.
The other area of Brickworks that is helping grow the capital value and dividends is the ASX share's joint venture industrial property trust.
This is where the trust is building quality industrial properties on excess land that Brickworks used to own by itself. Some of the latest projects are two huge warehouses, one each for Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) and Amazon. Once completed, they are expected to significantly increase the rental profit and capital value of the trust, which could help the Brickworks share price.
The ASX dividend share has a trailing grossed-up dividend yield of 3.8%.
