This morning Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) announced that it would be deferring the decision on its interim dividend until a later date.
While this doesn't necessarily mean the bank won't still pay this dividend, a lot will depend on its performance in the coming months.
Instead of buying its shares in the hope of a dividend being paid, I would suggest investors buy ASX dividend shares which are highly likely to be paying their dividends as normal this year.
Here are three dividend shares to consider:
Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL)
Coles has been a very strong performer during the coronavirus pandemic and looks well-placed to grow its dividend in FY 2020. Especially after reporting a whopping 12.9% increase in third quarter sales. And while not all of this sales growth will fall to the bottom line due to its expectation for higher costs in the fourth quarter, I remain confident a solid full year result is coming. Looking further ahead, I believe its long term outlook is positive thanks to its focus on automation and aim to deliver $1 billion in cumulative savings by FY 2023. I estimate that its shares currently offer a forward 3.9% dividend yield.
Dicker Data Ltd (ASX: DDR)
Earlier this week Dicker Data shrugged off the coronavirus pandemic and reported a 36.3% increase in first quarter net profit before tax to $18.4 million. The distributor of information technology products revealed that it has continued to experience strong demand for its offering partly due to the work from initiative. But it doesn't expect this to be a short term bump and remains positive on the rest of the financial year. So much so, it advised that it expects to pay a fully franked dividend of 35.5 cents per share in FY 2020. This is an increase of 31% year on year. This equates to a fully franked 5.2% yield and will be paid in quarterly instalments.
Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS)
A final dividend share to consider buying is Telstra. The telco giant recently reiterated its profit and free cash flow guidance for FY 2020 despite the pandemic. While there is a chance that Telstra may be conservative and trim its full year dividend down to 14 cents per share, I believe its free cash flow will be sufficient to maintain its 16 cents per share dividend. If it maintains its dividend its shares will provide a fully franked 5.2% yield. If it doesn't, its shares offer a 4.6% yield. I think both are attractive in the current environment. Furthermore, due to its increasingly positive outlook, I believe its earnings and dividends could return to growth from as soon as FY 2022.
