In 2022 and 2023, amid surging global coal prices, New Hope Corp Ltd (ASX: NHC) shares were paying out record amounts of passive income as the miner's profits swelled.
Indeed, taken together, the final 2022 dividend and interim 2023 dividend, both fully franked, came out to 96 cents a share.
With New Hope shares averaging around $5.80 in the early months of 2023, this saw the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) coal stock trading on a fully franked dividend yield north of 16%.
But, as you're likely aware, coal prices came down significantly since that price spike, which followed on Russia's invasion of Ukraine. And so have New Hope's profits and dividend payouts.
Which brings us back to our headline question.
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Are New Hope shares a good passive income buy today?
New Hope paid its final fully franked dividend of 15 cents a share on 8 October.
The miner will pay its fully franked interim dividend of 10 cents per share on 20 April.
That last passive income payout is still up for grabs, by the way. The ASX 200 coal stock reported its half year (H1 FY 2026) before market open today. If you want to bank the interim New Hope dividend, you'll need to own shares at market close on Monday, 30 March. The stock trades ex-dividend on 31 March.
Taken together then, New Hope has paid (or will shortly pay) 25 cents a share in dividends over 12 months.
Shares in the ASX 200 coal miner are down 5.7% in early afternoon trade today following the release of its half year results, trading for $5.00 each.
This sees New Hope share trading on a fully franked dividend yield (partly trailing, partly pending) of 5.0%.
Now, that's a long way from the 16% plus yield the coal miner was offering three years ago.
But it's still a solid passive income payout.
And it's worth noting that thermal coal prices have risen more than 17% so far in 2026, fuelled in part by the conflict in the Middle East.
Should coal prices remain elevated, and New Hope not face any unexpected operational issues, there's a good chance that investors will be rewarded with a bigger final dividend this October.
What did the ASX 200 coal stock report for H1?
With coal prices down over the half year, New Hope reported an 84.0% year on year fall in net profit after tax (NPAT) to $54.3 million.
That saw a lesser reduction in the coal miner's passive income payout, with the 10 cent interim dividend down 47.4% from last year's payment.
"The group achieved 5.5 million tonnes of saleable coal production for the half year, which was supported by the continued ramp up of production at New Acland Mine," New Hope CEO Rob Bishop said.
"In a lower coal price environment, our assets remain resilient and continue to generate solid margins," he added.
As for that passive income Bishop said, "As a result of our performance, we are able to reward shareholders with a fully franked interim dividend of 10.0 cents per ordinary share."
