Although it has been a mildly positive day for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) so far this Wednesday, we certainly cannot say the same for Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) shares.
While the ASX 200 is currently up 0.12%, Woolworths shares have collapsed. The ASX 200 blue-chip supermarket operator closed at $33.42 yesterday. But this morning, those same shares opened at $30 each before dropping as low as $28.08 – a fall worth 16% at the time.
At the time of writing, Woolies has recovered a little, but remains down a painful 13.2% at $29 a share.
The catalyst for this dramatic fall in value was the FY2025 earnings report released to investors this morning before market open.
As we covered at the time, this earnings report was a brutal one for shareholders to read. Although group revenues were up 3.6% to $69.1 billion, the company's earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) tanked by 12.6% to $2.75 billion.
It was even worse on the bottom line, with Woolworths reporting a net profit after tax (NPAT) of $1.39 billion. That's down 17.1% from FY2024.
But let's talk about the latest Woolworths dividend that was revealed this morning as well.
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Everything you need to know about the latest dividend from Woolworths shares
Considering the above, investors perhaps shouldn't be surprised that Woolworths has announced a dividend cut for its final payout of 2025.
The company has revealed it will pay a final dividend worth 45 cents per share. As per usual with Woolies, this dividend will come with full franking credits attached.
That 45 cents per share dividend represents a 21.05% cut from the final dividend of 57 cents per share in FY2024. And that's not including the 40 cents per share special dividend investors bagged last year, either.
Together with the interim dividend, worth 39 cents per share, from April, this takes Woolworths' 2025 full-year dividends to 84 cents per share. That represents a 19.23% drop from the $1.04 per share in dividends that Woolworths funded over 2024 (again, not including that special dividend).
If investors wish to enjoy this dividend payment, they will need to own Woolworths shares as of the close of trading on 1 September. That's before Woolworths trades ex-dividend on 2 September.
Eligible investors then have until 4 September to choose to participate in Woolworths' optional dividend reinvestment plan (DRP) if they wish to receive additional Woolworths shares in lieu of a cash payment.
The dividend pay day will then roll around on 26 September next month.
At the time of writing, Woolworths shares are trading on a trailing dividend yield of 3.31%.
