Owning Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS) shares usually means receiving a pleasing dividend from the ASX telecommunications share.
The business has steadily grown its annual dividend payment since 2022, which is a longer growth streak than plenty of the ASX's blue-chips.
For me, past dividends are no longer important – it's the future that passive income investors should focus on.
Telstra's key mobile division has steadily driven the company's payout higher thanks to higher revenue and earnings. Let's look at what experts think could happen with the dividend payment by the 2028 financial year.
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Potential Telstra FY26 dividend
The analyst projection on CMC Invest suggests the business could hike its annual dividend per share at a steady pace over the next few financial years.
The Telstra dividend per share is forecast to rise to 21 cents per share in FY26, which would be a very pleasing payout considering it would represent a year-over-year increase of more than 10%. Not many large ASX blue-chip shares are growing their dividend at that pace.
At the time of writing, that translates into a potential grossed-up dividend yield of 5.6%, including franking credits.
FY27 and FY28 payouts
The good times are expected to continue as the financial years go by.
Of course, we can't know for sure what Telstra's board of directors will to do. But, analysts seem optimistic that the business can continue to hike its payments, with an increase to 22 cents per share in FY27 and then reach 23 cents per share in FY28.
In other words, analysts are forecasting that the ASX telecommunication share could rise by close to 10% between FY26 and FY28.
At the time of writing and the current Telstra share price, that projected dividend for FY28 translates into a possible grossed-up dividend yield of 6.2%, including franking credits.
Long-term earnings growth
I expect Telstra's revenue to continue to grow in the years ahead. It can use both subscriber growth and price increases to drive its financials.
Australia's population continues to grow and more devices are connected to the internet, giving the business an excellent tailwind. I think the internet is going to become even more important as time goes on.
The FY26 half-year result was a great example of its ability to perform. Mobile handheld users increased by 135,000 and it sustained average revenue per user (ARPU) growth across all categories and brands.
HY26 operating profit (EBIT) grew 9.2% to $2 billion and net profit grew 9.4% to $1.1 billion.
If net profit continues to rise, Telstra shares could remain a very appealing investment.
