ASX telco Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS) was one of the earliest shares to get out of the gate with its latest numbers this earnings season. Unfortunately, the market wasn't kind to the telco when those earnings were made public on 13 August.
As we covered at the time, Telstra's share price dropped a hefty 3.2% on earnings day, and, at $4.70 a share at the time of writing, is now down almost 6% from where it was at market close on 12 August.
Perhaps investors were expecting better than the 0.8% drop in revenues that Telstra revealed, or the 4.9% bump in underlying net profit after tax (NPAT) of $2.5 billion.
But most investors who own Telstra shares do so not for this telco's growth potential, but for its dividend income firepower.
For its entire history as a public company, Telstra has been renowned for its fat, and usually fully franked dividends. It is considered one of the ASX's most reliable income payers, and usually offers a yield at the top end of what most ASX blue chips can offer.
So today, let's discuss what kind of yield one can expect from buying Telstra shares today.
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Telstra shares: What kind of dividend yield is on the table?
So, over the past 12 months, Telstra has forked out two dividend payments. The first was last September's final dividend worth 9.5 cents per share. That one came with full franking credits attached. The second was March's interim dividend, worth 10.5 cents per share. For the first time in a long time (perhaps ever), that dividend only came partially franked at 90.48%.
This annual total of 20 cents per share in dividends gives Telstra the 4.26% yield we see the telco trading at today.
However, now that we know what Telstra's final dividend for 2026 looks like, we can update that figure. Last week, Telstra announced that its next dividend would be worth 10.5 cents per share. That's a coincidental 10.5% hike over 2025's final dividend, bringing it in line with March's interim dividend. Like the payout, though, this one will also come partially franked at 90.48%.
This new annual total of 21 cents per share in dividends means we can assign Telstra a forward dividend yield of 4.46%. However, that will only hold if Telstra's next interim dividend at least matches the one we saw back in March. Given this company's track record, that seems very possible. But nothing is ever certain on the ASX. Let's see what happens next year.
