Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS) pays out its boosted dividend today.
That means passive income investors who owned Telstra shares at market close on 27 February will be heading into the Easter weekend with some extra spending money.
Or money to reinvest, of course.
Telstra's 6% dividend boost
The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) telco reported its half-year results on 15 February.
Among the highlights for passive income investors was the 5.9% increase in Telstra's interim dividend.
Management declared a fully franked dividend of 9 cents per share. That was up from 8.5 cents paid out for the interim dividend the prior year and marks Telstra's highest interim dividend since the heady days of 2018.
The telco was able to increase its dividend on the back of a 1.2% year-on-year increase in total income for the six-month period, which reached $11.7 billion. That was driven by growth across the company's mobile services, International, Telstra InfraCo Fixed and Amplitel.
This in turn helped drive an 11.5% increase in net profit after tax to $1.0 billion. Though the company modestly lowered its underlying EBITDA guidance range for FY 2024 to $8.2 to $8.3 billion.
As for that passive income, Telstra shares traded ex-dividend on 28 February.
That means income investors will have had to own shares at market close on 27 February to receive today's payout.
Eligible shareholders can expect that money to hit their bank account today.
Unless, of course, they've opted for Telstra's dividend reinvestment plan (DRP). Then they'll own more Telstra shares instead.
The ASX 200 telco also paid a fully franked final dividend of 8.5 cents per share on 28 September.
At a full-year payout of 17.5 cents per share and currently trading for $3.81 per share, Telstra is trading on a fully franked trailing yield of 4.6%.
Telstra shares are up 0.79% in early morning trade today.
