With ASX earnings season now in full swing, investors have heard from several big ASX 200 names. Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS) and CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL) have now all shown investors their latest report card covering the most recent six months in their reporting calendar.
But for those owning Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co Ltd (ASX: SOL) shares, you'll have to wait a little longer.
Soul Patts shares are scheduled to deliver the company's latest earnings report on 21 March next month, well at the back end of this earnings season. But I can't wait to get a look at this latest report from this ASX 200 investing house.
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What does Washington H. Soul Pattinson do?
As has been long documented here at the Fool, Soul Patts shares are one of my favourite ASX investments. I've held the company for many years now and continue to be delighted by its presence in my portfolio.
Soul Patts is a company that operates in a rather unusual manner compared to other ASX 200 shares. It runs a portfolio of investments on behalf of its shareholders, making it more similar to a listed investment company (LIC) or managed fund than a traditional ASX share.
Soul Patts owns many different types of investments in this portfolio, which span multiple asset classes. It holds a huge portfolio of blue-chip shares, as well as significant stakes in a small number of quality ASX companies. These include Brickworks Ltd (ASX: BKW), TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPG) and New Hope Corporation Ltd (ASX: NHC).
But you'll also find other investments like private credit, emerging companies, infrastructure and unlisted assets in the company portfolio.
So why can't I wait for Soul Patts to drop its latest earnings report next month?
Why the next update from Soul Patts shares has me excited
Well, I'm looking forward to seeing if the company can enter its 24th year of annual dividend increases. Soul Patts is the only ASX share that has a record of increasing its annual dividend every single year since 2000. Back in that year, the company doled out 10.5 cents per share in ordinary dividends. But by 2023, the company was forking out 87 cents per share.
As we recently covered, this would see an investor who bought in in 2000 enjoying a dividend yield-on-cost of more than 22% today.
So I'm very excited to see what the next dividend from this income-producing machine will look like.
I'm also excited about a possible portfolio performance update. In December, Soul Patts reiterated that its portfolio had achieved an impressive total shareholder return (including dividends) of 12.5% per annum over the 20 years to 31 July 2023. That figure holds at 12.4% per annum over the past ten years, and 11.3% over the past five.
I'd like to see an update with these figures, hopefully covering the back end of 2023.
So all in all, I'm very keen to get an update from one of my favourite ASX 200 dividend shares next month. I'm optimistic that it will reaffirm my love for Soul Patts.
