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Apparently, the typical individual spends round £200 a month on groceries within the UK. Provided that I recurrently store at Tesco (LSE: TSCO), this obtained me questioning what number of shares I’d must cowl that in dividends.
Understanding the yield
To work this out the old school means, I would like to have a look at a number of issues. Firstly, the dividend per share paid by Tesco. For its FY24 (which led to February), the grocery store big paid out 12.1p per share.
That was 11% greater than the earlier 12 months, when it stored its payout flat as a result of disruption and uncertainty attributable to the pandemic.
Nevertheless, these money payouts at the moment are within the rear-view mirror, with the second and ultimate FY24 dividend of 8.25p paid out to shareholders in June. So I would like to have a look at the anticipated dividend for this 12 months (FY25), which is forecast to be 12.7p per share.
Subsequent, the share price, which can give us our dividend yield. As I write on 12 July, that is 315p, translating right into a ahead yield of simply over 4%.
Due to this fact, I’d want about 18,900 Tesco shares to bag the equal of £200 a month in dividends and pay for my groceries. They’d set me again roughly £59,535.
Observe, that’s greater than the £20k Shares and Shares ISA restrict, so there might be revenue tax implications.
Please notice that tax therapy will depend on the person circumstances of every shopper and could also be topic to vary in future. The content material on this article is supplied for data functions solely. It isn’t meant to be, neither does it represent, any type of tax recommendation. Readers are chargeable for finishing up their very own due diligence and for acquiring skilled recommendation earlier than making any funding choices.
A stable latest report
Tesco has a very good report of rising its dividend since reinstating it in 2017 following an accounting scandal. It’s grown at a compound annual price of 10.6% since FY19.
Nevertheless, the truth that even a retail stalwart like Tesco didn’t pay out for 3 years serves to remind us that dividends are by no means assured. Certainly, the payout remains to be decrease than it was previous to being cancelled.

Nonetheless, it’s getting there. Forecasts see a dividend of 13.9p per share in FY26, for a yield of 4.4%. Which means the shares would then pay me £2,627 a 12 months — or the equal of £218 per thirty days — in passive revenue.
Sunnier outlook
The share price is up round 26% over the previous 12 months. This seemingly displays decrease inflation, which ought to loosen customers’ purse strings and increase basket sizes.
In Q1, group gross sales rose 3.4% 12 months on 12 months to £15.3bn, whereas it expects full-year retail adjusted working revenue of £2.8bn, up barely on FY24.
Would I purchase Tesco shares?
I choose to spend money on two kinds of revenue shares. The primary are these slow-growers that carry ultra-high dividend yields within the 6% to 9+% vary. Examples from the FTSE 100 embody British American Tobacco (9.3%) and Authorized & Basic (8.7%).
Alternatively, I’m keen to take a decrease yield if the corporate remains to be rising its prime line at a good clip. I’d spotlight Video games Workshop (4%) and Greggs (2.1%) as FTSE 250 examples right here.
Sadly, Tesco doesn’t actually match into both class. Although it’s accomplished an excellent job solidifying its main market place, the grocery sector could be very established and low progress.
Furthermore, it’s saturated with competitors, from German discounters Aldi and Lidl to upstarts like HelloFresh and on-line juggernaut Amazon, which is sniffing across the UK grocery scene. Competitors stays a danger to Tesco’s long-term revenue progress.
Due to this fact, I’d quite go up on Tesco shares for higher-yielding choices.