One of the big earnings announcements this Tuesday has been from ASX 200 healthcare giant CSL Limited (ASX: CSL). And income investors will be delighted by what CSL had to say this morning in regard to its dividend.
Yes, before market open today, CSL reported its full-year earnings for the 2023 financial year.
As we covered at the time, these saw CSL reveal a 31% surge in revenues to US$13.31 billion. The company's net profits were also up by 10% to US$2.61 billion, and up 20% on a constant currency basis to US$2.86 billion.
But let's talk about the CSL dividend.
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What kind of dividend did CSL announce today?
So CSL has announced that its final dividend for 2023 will come in at US$1.29 per share, partially franked at 10%. That's a healthy rise of 9.32% over last year's final dividend of US$1.18 per share.
We don't yet know what the final amount in Aussie dollar terms will be. But at present exchange rates, it would come in at roughly $1.99 per share. If that does turn out to be the case, it would be a 13.07% rise over last year's final dividend (in Aussie dollar terms) of $1.76 per share.
It's also a big rise over CSL's interim dividend from April this year. That was a US$1.07 per share payment, which ended up becoming a $1.62 per share payment in our local currency.
So all up, CSL has now revealed it will pay out a total of US$2.36 per share in annual dividends for FY2023. That's up 6% from FY2022's total.
This latest final dividend, if currency exchange rates hold, will be the largest dividend the healthcare giant has ever paid out to investors. It continues CSL's strong track record of raising its shareholder payouts. Only five years ago, investors were taking home $2.28 per share from their CSL stock. In 2023, it looks like investors are in line to nab something like $3.61 per share.
When is payday?
This latest dividend will hit CSL owners' bank accounts on 4 October later this year. The ex-dividend date is set for 11 September next month. Two days before, on 9 September, we'll find out exactly how much this dividend will be worth in Aussie dollar terms.
CSL's dividend reinvestment plan (DRP) won't be available for this payment, so all shareholders will be receiving this dividend in cash.
Right now, the current CSL share price gives the company a trailing dividend yield of 1.06%.
