ASX dividend shares could be a smart choice in this era of higher inflation. If costs are rising, I'd want to see my dividend income rising to help offset (or even outgrow) the pain.
There are not many businesses that I'm confidently expecting to deliver rising dividends in the coming results. A weaker economic environment could lead to some businesses deciding to maintain (or even cut) their payouts.
However, the below three names are ones I'm feeling confident about for dividend growth in the foreseeable future.
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Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS)
Telstra is one the ASX blue-chip shares I'm most optimistic will deliver dividend growth because of the nature of the service of what it provides. Many households, businesses and organisations seem to put an important value on having a mobile connection. I think that means the business has defensive earnings.
Telecommunications is important for numerous reasons these days such as work, education, entertainment, communication, shopping and so on.
Telstra has been steadily increasing its dividend payout in the last few years, including the FY26 half-year result. That report saw earnings per share (EPS) rise by 11.2% and the dividend per share was hiked by 10.5% to 10.5 cents.
I think it's very likely that the business will want to pay another 10.5 cents per share with its FY26 annual report.
With Australia's growing population and the prevalence of digitalisation, I think Telstra's mobile subscriber base and average revenue per user (ARPU) are set to continue rising in the coming years, which will be a useful tailwind for earnings and the dividend.
PM Capital Global Opportunities Fund Ltd (ASX: PGF)
This is a listed investment company (LIC), which means it invests in shares to try to make returns for shareholders. The board of directors have the flexibility to declare the size of dividend they want to, assuming they have the profit reserve to do so.
The LIC looks at a global portfolio of shares to find the right undervalued opportunities that could deliver market-beating returns.
At 31 December 2025, the business reported it had retained earnings and profit reserves of $584 million, which is enough to maintain the minimum intended dividend rate for nine years.
Management have provided guidance that the business intends to deliver a minimum dividend per share of 13.5 cents in FY26. That'd be a year-over-year increase of 17%.
Of the last decade, FY23 is the only year that it hasn't increased its payout. That's thanks to an average portfolio return of 16.8% per year since inception in December 2013. That's an excellent track record, I'd say, though it's not guaranteed to continue at that level.
Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co Ltd (ASX: SOL)
I view Soul Patts as the best option of all on the ASX for consistent growth.
It already holds the record for regular dividend growth – it has increased its payout each year since 1998 and it's set up to continue that impressive dividend growth, in my view.
The businesses operates as an investment house, which means it has the flexibility to make investment buys (and sell investments) to adjust its portfolio to own assets that it thinks will provide good returns for investors.
Soul Patts is invested in a number of different areas such as resources, telecommunications, industrial property, building products, swimming schools, agriculture, credit and plenty more. I expect the portfolio to change in the coming years.
By retaining some of its investment cash flow each year, the company is able to steadily invest in expanding in its portfolio and unlock the next generation of growing assets which could fund larger dividends.
I like how the ASX dividend share has made growing its dividend one of the main objectives and I think management have done it very well so far. As a bonus, a growing portfolio also helps increase the underlying value of Soul Patts shares to help drive the share price higher over time.
