ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: ANZ) likes to be fashionably late when it comes to earnings. Most shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) report their half-year earnings between February and March. But, as of this first day of May, ANZ's have only just arrived. So let's talk about them and the next ANZ dividend.
As we covered this morning, it was a seemingly pleasing set of numbers that the bank had to show for itself.
ANZ reported a statutory profit of $3.65 billion for the six months to 31 March, up 62% on the prior half. The ASX bank also unveiled a cash profit of $3.78 billion, up 70% or 14% excluding significant items. Meanwhile, operating income was up 3% to $11.2 billion, helped by a 22% drop in operating expenses to $5.54 billion.
It seems investors were expecting better from the bank, though. ANZ shares closed at $36.65 each yesterday. However, at the time of writing, the ANZ share price is down a hefty 1.01% to $36.29. Given that the broader S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is presently up a happy 0.94%, we can only conclude that this earnings report hasn't gone down too well. Perhaps that has something to do with the dividend that ANZ just announced.
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ANZ shares drop as interim dividend steady
Despite the notable jump in profits for the half, ANZ has revealed that its interim dividend for 2026 will come in at 83 cents per share. That matches both the interim and final dividends from last year. In fact, 83 cents per share is the same payout that investors have been receiving every six months since July 2024.
By now, ANZ investors would be used to their dividends coming only partially franked. However, in a bright spot of dividend news, this latest interim dividend from ANZ will be franked at 75%, above the 70% franking that both of 2025's pay-outs carried.
This latest ANZ dividend has been scheduled for payment on 1 July, kicking off the new financial year with a bang for investors. If investors wish to receive it, though, and don't already own shares, they will need to buy some before the ex-dividend date of 11 May.
Eligible investors then have until 13 May to decide if they wish to participate in the optional dividend reinvestment plan (DRP) and receive additional ANZ shares in lieu of a cash payment.
At the current ANZ share price, this ASX 200 bank stock trades with a trailing dividend yield of 4.58% – the highest among the big four ASX banks at present. Since ANZ is holding its interim dividend steady, we can also assign the company a forward yield of 4.58%.
