When chasing life-long passive income, owning a random group of dividend shares simply won’t do the trick. The is filled with dividend-paying enterprises, making UK investors spoilt for choice. But just because a firm makes payouts to shareholders today doesn’t mean it will continue to do so 20 or 30 years from now.
That’s why, when investing for long-term income, I’m focused on finding businesses that can continuously expand operations to fund an ever-increasing dividend. And right now, ‘s ( ) grabbed my attention. Reliable dividend shares? Retail can be a fickle industry.
And looking at the track record of industry titans like doesn’t exactly scream dividend growth opportunity. After all, even after a decade, the UK’s largest grocery retailer’s dividend still hasn’t recovered after being wiped out in 2015. And its share price has only climbed a mediocre 25% since January of that year.
Yet, looking at B&M, the story’s rather different. With inflation ravaging household budgets, its B&M and Heron Foods stores have seen a significant increase in footfall over the last few years. Both have a reputation for lower prices, even on branded products.
The group’s market penetration’s nowhere near what Tesco’s achieved. However, its are some of the highest in the industry at 11.1% versus the sector average of 3.
1%. And with more earnings flowing to the bottom line, the dividend track record’s been admirable. Since 2015, shareholder payouts are up 330% with .