I was giving some more thought to ASH's dividends, which are currently only paid once a year. If my forecasts for 2020 are achieved (see below), ASH should be in a good position to pay a fully franked 1c dividend for the first half, while still maintaining the 2.7c final dividend (i.e. 3.7c for the full year).
In my view, these forecasts are achievable as they only assume 5% EPS growth (versus the 13% achieved in 2019), and my revenue growth assumption of 6% is below the company's own 7.5% labour hire revenue growth assumption (used in their impairment tests).
In any case, the AGM update next month should give us a better idea of whether ASH is on track to meet these forecasts (and potential H1 dividend).
(20min delay)