I love investing in ASX shares that provide a mixture of growth and dividends because of the total returns on offer.
Owning part of a growing business is one positive and receiving dividend payments is a great bonus.
The two businesses I'll highlight have increased their annual dividend payment for (at least) most years of their listed lives.
I'm expecting both of the businesses below to deliver significant long-term earnings growth, but there could be some volatility along the journey.
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Nick Scali Limited (ASX: NCK)
Nick Scali is a leading furniture retailer in Australia and New Zealand, as well as an emerging player in the UK.
Recent (and potential) interest rate cuts could have a significant impact on consumer confidence and the ability to spend money at Nick Scali's stores following a difficult couple of financial years.
The business grew its annual dividend every year between 2013 to 2023, and I'm expecting further dividend growth. It currently has a grossed-up dividend yield of 3.8%, including franking credits. Store growth can be a significant growth driver in the coming years, on top of the RBA rate cut tailwinds.
At 30 June 2025, it had a total of 110 Nick Scali and Plush stores across Australia and New Zealand. The business believes the long-term opportunity is for between 180 to 200 stores in ANZ, representing a potential increase of more than 60%.
In the UK, the business had 20 stores at the end of FY25. While the company is yet to decide on a long-term potential store count, I think it could quite easily (eventually) reach 180 because the UK population is well over double the Australian population. Increased scale can help the ASX share's profit margins.
ANZ written sales in July 2025 increased 7.7% year-over-year, which is a great start to FY26 and says to me FY26 could see earnings growth and dividend hikes.
Universal Store Holdings Ltd (ASX: UNI)
Universal Store's strategy is to grow and develop its premium youth fashion apparel brands and retail formats to deliver a carefully curated selection of on-trend apparel products to a target 16 to 35 year old fashion-focused customer.
Its businesses are Universal Store, Perfect Stranger, THRILLS and Worship.
I've been very impressed by how its core businesses have performed, indicating the company's products are clearly resonating with customers.
In FY25, the business reported total sales growth of 15.5% to $333.3 million, helping underlying net profit after tax (NPAT) rise by 15.2% to $34.8 million. This helped fund an 8.5% increase to the annual payout to 38.5 cents. At the time of writing and the Universal Store share price, that translates into a grossed-up dividend yield of around 6.5%, including franking credits. I think it ticks the box of growth and dividends.
I'm excited by what the business could achieve in the coming years if it keeps adding more stores, particularly the Perfect Stranger business. In FY25, Perfect Stranger sales soared 83% to $25.5 million. In the first seven weeks of FY26 Perfect Stranger total sales increased another 52.8% and the company's overall sales were up 17.2%.
The ASX share is intending to open another 11 to 17 stores across the business in FY26, including four to six Universal Store locations and five to seven Perfect Stranger stores.
I think it has a very good outlook for long-term profit growth if its same-store sales continue growing.
