How to find top-quality companies with growing dividends

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Our investment philosophy centres on a quality dividend-growth strategy. By focusing on high-quality stocks with sustainable and growing dividends, we aim to provide steady income and long-term capital growth. Rather than chasing high-yield stocks, which often underperform, we prioritise proven resilience.

Every company we invest in must deliver sustainable dividends, supported by at least ten consecutive years of strong cash returns on investment. Additional quality screens, including balance-sheet strength, narrow down the criteria further. This disciplined process often leads us beyond traditional income sectors to firms combining steady growth with attractive dividend potential. Here are three examples.

Publicis (Paris: PUB), a French advertising and media agency, is the third-largest player in its field after WPP and Omnicom. Through strategic acquisitions of Sapient, a business transformation consultancy, and Epsilon, a data firm, Publicis has evolved from focusing on traditional media to becoming a comprehensive solutions provider with cutting-edge digital capabilities. This forward-thinking strategy has driven industry-leading performance. It achieved the highest organic growth among peers for eight successive quarters.

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Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is a household name and a global leader in technology, but what really stands out is the company’s innovation and adaptability. Its Azure cloud platform continues to lead the market with growth of about 30%, driven by a hybrid-cloud model and early investments in AI, including Azure AI and Copilot. AI is now a meaningful contributor to growth, solidifying Microsoft’s position at the forefront of technological advancement.

Beyond Azure, Microsoft’s diversified portfolio spans intelligent cloud, productivity and business processes, and personal computing, providing multiple high-margin growth engines. Under CEO Satya Nadella’s leadership, the company has leveraged its enduring competitive advantages, scale, and network effects to reinvest in innovation while maintaining financial strength. With a dividend policy boasting a 10% compound annual growth rate since 2010, Microsoft combines growth potential with shareholders’ returns, making it a core holding.

Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), the world’s largest non-alcoholic beverage company, holds an unmatched position, with five of the top six global non-alcoholic carbonated drinks under its umbrella: Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta, Diet Coke, and Coke Zero.

Coca-Cola exemplifies a business with a formidable competitive advantage underpinned by its iconic brand and global recognition. The company has consistently found new avenues of growth through strategic initiatives such as portfolio optimisation, reformulated beverages to meet changing consumer preferences, and innovative smaller-sized packaging.

This has been reflected in the past three years, during which Coca-Cola has achieved double-digit organic growth despite high inflation. CEO James Quincey summarised Coca-Cola’s success by stating that “our all-weather strategy is working”.

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Portfolio manager, Guinness Global Equity Income Fund