ASX 200 financial stock, Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co Ltd (ASX: SOL) has increased its annual dividend for the 27th year in a row.
The diversified investment house dubbed 'Soul Patts' will pay a fully franked final dividend of 59 cents per share for FY25.
The ex-dividend date is 21 August. Investors will be paid on 5 September.
The final dividend of 59 cents represents a 7.3% increase on the FY24 final dividend of 55 cents.
This takes Soul Patts' total annual dividend to 103 cents per share for FY25.
This makes FY25 the 27th year of consecutive dividend increases.
The Soul Patts share price closed out last week at $40.32, down 0.64% on Friday but up 13% over the past 12 months.
This means Soul Patts shares are now trading on a trailing dividend yield of 2.55%.
Soul Patts shares' impressive dividend history
Soul Patts shares have paid a dividend to investors every year since listing on the ASX in 1903.
The investment house has increased the annual dividend amount every year since 1998.
Trading update
Soul Patts announced the final dividend and provided a trading update on Friday.
On a preliminary, unaudited basis, Soul Patts' net asset value (pre-tax) for FY25, which the company defines as the 12 months to 31 July, is expected to be between $12.18 billion and $12.68 billion.
This compares to $11.8 billion in FY24.
Soul Patts expects the net cash flow from investments to be between $485 million and $535 million.
The net cash flow from investments in FY24 was $468 million.
What did management say?
Soul Patts' Managing Director & CEO, Todd Barlow said:
Our performance remains solid during a period of heightened market volatility.
Measuring our performance on a total shareholder return basis, we delivered 17.5% outperforming the All Ords Accumulation Index by +5.7% in financial year 2025.
We are confident that our diversified portfolio – and recent focus on private credit and private equity – can continue generating long-term capital and income growth, with a robust liquidity position supporting new investment opportunities.
Soul Patts expects to deliver its finalised FY25 numbers on 30 September.
What's happening with the Brickworks merger?
On Friday, Soul Patts and Brickworks Ltd (ASX: BKW) announced that the NSW Supreme Court had given the go-ahead for their scheme meeting.
Soul Patts and the building products manufacturer and property investment company announced a proposed $14 billion merger in June.
The next step is registering the 'Combination Booklet' with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC).
It will then be sent to shareholders.
The booklet will provide further information on the proposed merger, including the required independent expert's report about the merger.
The scheme meeting and merger vote will take place on Wednesday, 10 September.
Soul Patts and Brickworks have held substantial stakes in each other's companies for many decades.
Under the merger, Soul Patts shareholders will receive one new share in the new entity, called TopCo for now, for every share they hold.
Brickworks shareholders will receive 0.82 shares in TopCo for every share they hold.
Once the merger is complete, Soul Patts shareholders will own about 72% of TopCo and Brickworks shareholders will own about 19%.
Brickworks also announces boosted dividend
On Friday, Brickworks revealed it would pay a final fully franked dividend of 48.5 cents per share for FY25.
That's 12.8% higher than last year's final dividend of 43 cents per share.
Brickworks said:
Consistent with the terms of the Combination Deed, the value of the Dividend is equivalent to 0.82 of the final dividend per Soul Patts share in respect of the financial year ended 31 July 2025 which is declared or determined by Soul Patts.
The Dividend will be paid irrespective of whether the BKW Share Scheme proceeds.
The ex-dividend and payment dates are the same as for the Soul Patts dividend — 21 August and 5 September, respectively.
Soul Patts and Brickworks share price snapshot
As the chart below shows, the Soul Patts share price has lifted 13% over the past 12 months, while Brickworks stock has risen 13.2%.
